


We're Never Coming Back (To Your Filthy Halls)

by umisabaku



Series: Designation: Miracle [10]
Category: Free!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Established Relationship, Gun Violence, Homophobia, M/M, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-09-26 21:54:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 45,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9923750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umisabaku/pseuds/umisabaku
Summary: Kasamatsu Yukio travels to Iwatobi for an estranged uncle's funeral; meets angry mermaids, learns a few disturbing family secrets, and gets into a whole lot of trouble.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, friends! This story is part of a very long series, and unfortunately, it's not going to make much sense if you aren't at least familiar with the Kuroko no Basuke stories that came before it. It's a universe heavily inspired by the TV show Dark Angel, and there's some crazy times ahead. It can probably be read without much knowledge of Free! although knowing who the characters are would most likely help. 
> 
> It is completely finished! I am going to *try* to post a new chapter every Saturday, but the extensiveness of the editing might cause delays. I fully intend to have this all posted by early April. It has been betaed by the secret beta fish and all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Title comes from "Filthy Halls" by Apple Horse
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

Thirteen years ago, two brothers have an irreconcilable fight.

They yell at each other, and come to blows.

“Why did you even come back here if you’re just going to continue to shame the family?” the elder brother shouts.

“I don’t know! I don’t know why I thought I could ever reason with you!!” the younger brother shouts back.

“You’re a disgrace,” the elder brother says, in disgust.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about _you._ I’m ashamed we share the same blood,” the younger brother says, equally disgusted.

“Get out of my sight. I never want to see you again.”

“Believe me, you never will.”

Their two young sons, who that day had spent an enjoyable time playing with one another, look at each other in silence. Young as they are, they both know they are most likely never going to play with each other ever again.

*

Nine years ago, a boy and his friend bid each other farewell.

“I don’t understand why you have to leave,” the boy says. “I don’t understand why we can’t—”

“Because we can’t,” his friend says harshly. “I have to get stronger. And we’re too different, we practically live in different worlds. We always knew that.”

“I don’t care. I am always going to be your friend,” the boy vows. “Understand? No matter what, I’m never going to stop being your friend.”

*

Four years ago, seven children escape the lab that created them. Four years ago, the world changed, and impossible things suddenly entered the realms of possibility.

*

Four years ago, another set of children watch as the world changes.

They watch the TV silently, they watch the yellow-haired child enter the arms of the soldier who rescues him. They watch as these children gain their freedom.

“I want that too,” one says suddenly. “I want to swim free.”

The others stare at him, wide-eyed and silent.

After they process it, the tallest of them says, “Alright. Let’s do it. Let’s swim free.”

*

One year ago, another boy gains his freedom.

He’s obeying an Order— _Run, Live_ —and he’s trying desperately to survive. His life has been altered forever; he has lost everything he ever knew, even his name.

He doesn’t expect to find family or love in the ocean, but he finds both.

*

One week ago, a young man tells his cousin, “Don’t come here. I don’t want you here,” and hangs up on him.

*

Four days ago, three fishermen haul their net to their boat, and discover a body.

At first they are appalled, believing that they have brought a dead body in with the daily catch. Such occurrences are not unheard of in the sea.

But then the body moves, and they all let out a shout, and then they stare.

No one wants to be the first to say it, but finally someone does:

“My God, we’ve caught a mermaid.”

*

Now, Kasamatsu Yukio is on a train; tired, too worried to sleep, and anxious about his destination. His boyfriend twists in the seat next to him and takes selfies.

“Oh ho ho, Midorimacchi is _vicious_ with his threats,” his boyfriend crows, his phone vibrating with angry texts. “Not to mention, really creative with his swearing! You wouldn’t think it, but that guy has got a serious potty mouth. OK, Senpai, now I’m going to take one while sitting on your lap—”

“Quit it,” Kasamatsu says, shoving the younger man back down. “Also, stop taunting your friends. One of them might actually kill you, and I’m going to let them.”

“Senpai,” Kise Ryouta pouts, “You don’t mean that.”

“They’d be justified,” Kasamatsu returns.

Kise laughs. “So far, Midorimacchi wins most creative threat. Kurokocchi was the most eloquent, and Murasakibaracchi, the most succinct—he just wrote ‘I’ll crush you,’ which is not very imaginative _at all_.”

“Seriously, Kise, knock it off.”

“But I’m booo-ooo-reeed,” Kise whines. “This train ride has been _forever_ and you wouldn’t make out with me. I had to entertain myself _somehow._ Although, if you’ve changed your mind…” he presses in close, bats his eyelashes, sending Kasamatsu a slow “come hither” look that would normally be very hard to resist.

“I told you, I’m not going to make out with you when you look like that.”

Kise huffs and returns to his seat. “But you’re also the one who told me I should wear a disguise,” Kise continued to whine. “Senpai, you’re being very unfair.”

“I didn’t tell you to look like Takao Kazunari, did I? Or Kagami, _or_ Himuro.”

Kise just grins at him. It’s a distinctly Takao Kazunari grin, which is not all that surprising, since it is Takao Kazunari’s face, but it is still somewhat unsettling to see on his boyfriend.

Kise Ryouta couldn’t really go out in public without attracting a lot of attention. For one thing, he was a very popular model and high school basketball star, so he had a lot of fangirls. For another thing, he was also a Miracle, one of the mutant children who had escaped from Teiko four years ago. The Miracles, by nature of their strange colored hair and eyes, and the knowledge that they all possessed superpowers, attracted a lot of attention wherever they went. Kise, more so than the rest, partly because of the aforementioned model thing but mostly because Kise _liked_ the attention, and would usually pander to his adoring fans.

Kasamatsu, who for various reasons, was hoping to make this trip as quietly and surreptitiously as possible, had suggested Kise wear a disguise. Since Kise’s ability was “Perfect Copy” and enabled him to shapeshift into whoever he wished, he took that as reason to promptly shift into Kagami Taiga and take selfies as he posed with Kasamatsu. Kagami, Kise decided, attracted as much attention as a Miracle, since he was often mistaken for one because of his hair color and height. He _then_ shifted to Himuro Tatsuya, took more photos, deemed Himuro “almost as pretty” as his own natural form and thus still attracted a lot of stares, until he finally settled on Takao as the most non-descript option.

It was only later that Kasamatsu realized Kise was texting all the photos he had taken to Kuroko Tetsuya, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Midorima Shintarou—fellow Miracles and, more to the point, the boyfriends of the people whose appearance Kise had decided to co-opt.

“Out of curiosity, why did you leave Akashi out of this?” Kasamatsu asks idly. “You never Copied Furihata Kouki.”

Kise makes a face. “I’m not _suicidal.”_

Kasamatsu snorts and hunches down in his seat. He’s seen the other Miracles when they were angry; Kise was definitely playing with fire, even without getting Akashi Seijuurou involved.

“Senpai,” Kise starts, his voice shifting to a more serious tone. “Why are we doing this? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been waiting for _years_ for you to say, ‘run away with me on secret romantic adventure’—”

“That’s not even remotely close to what I said.”

“—It’s what I heard,” Kise dismisses. “So I am _super_ thrilled to be here with you! I am always happy to do whatever it is you want! I’m just, uh, a little confused as to why this was so secretive. I mean—we’re just going to your uncle’s memorial, right?”

Kasamatsu sighs and drums his fingers against his knees. All things considered, Kise had been remarkably supportive of Kasamatsu’s sudden request that they travel to Iwatobi. He hadn’t pried for more details, he just instantly packed his bags and left with him. Kasamatsu does feel like he owes his boyfriend an explanation, but the situation is so muddled in his own mind that he doesn’t know how to explain it in a way that makes sense.

“My father didn’t want me to come,” he starts, feeling like that at least gets to the heart of the matter.

“ _Youji-san?”_ Kise exclaims, and Kasamatsu winces. His father has never been one for strict discipline or setting down rules, and Kise knows that. In fact, Kasamatsu is usually the one telling his father that he needs to be more firm, and Kasamatsu has always been the one to discipline and guide his two younger brothers.

The idea that Kasamatsu Youji would _forbid_ his eldest son from doing anything was actually kind of laughable. And the fact that Kasamatsu is _disobeying_ is a very strange situation to be in.

“Dad...is not close with his family,” Kasamatsu says. “He’s kind of the black sheep, although I never exactly understood why. He’s been estranged from them for years, so it’s not all that surprising that he didn’t want to go to his brother’s memorial, I just wouldn’t—his reaction—I wasn’t expecting how opposed to the idea he would be.”

 _That_ was an understatement. Kasamatsu is _still_ trying to make sense of his father’s reaction.

*

When Kasamatsu found out his uncle had died, he was sure Youji didn’t know, and he felt it was his responsibility to tell him. He had only met his uncle once, back when he was only six, and never again. He’d later come to understand that it had been the first attempt to reconcile after a long estrangement, and the reconciliation attempt had failed miserably. No such attempt had ever occurred again, as far as Kasamatsu was aware, but he still felt like Youji should know about his brother’s passing.

He had approached the subject as gently but as forthright as possible, not seeing much point in hedging.

“Uncle Seiji died last week.”

Youji didn’t even look up from the newspaper he was reading. “Oh? Good. I hope he burns in hell.”

“ _Dad,”_ Kasamatsu said, in strangled disbelief.

Youji did look up then. “I know, I know. That reaction was entirely inappropriate. We’re not even Christian.”

Kasamatsu continued to gape, half-thinking his father must be joking, but also certain that this wasn’t something even Youji would joke about.

“Still. If there is a hell, I hope he’s in it, and that it’s very painful,” Youji considered, conversation-like.

“He was your _brother,_ ” Kasamatsu exclaimed. “He was family.”

Finally, Youji grew serious, looking at his eldest with a rare gravity. “No, Yukio. He was not. We might share blood, but that man was _not_ family. If you learn nothing else from me, I hope it is that family is not always connected by blood.”

“I _do_ know that,” Kasamatsu said instantly. “But…” He knew very little about his father’s family, only that Youji had two brothers. Since Kasamatsu _also_ had two brothers, it was hard not to see parallels there. And he couldn’t imagine a rift between his brothers—the very thought made him unimaginably sad.

Youji followed his train of thought with surprising perception and gently said, “You and your brothers are different. Whatever happened with the people who raised me—it’s not something that could ever happen to you. It has no bearing on you at all.”

“How can you even say that?” Kasamatsu burst out, frustrated. Whatever this was, it was his history, _their_ history.

“ _That man_ does not deserve your consideration, Yukio,” Youji said vehemently, so much so that it startled Kasamatsu out of this thoughts. “He doesn’t deserve a passing sympathy—he wouldn’t give _you_ one, so just let it go.”

Kasamatsu stood back, feeling like he was seeing a different version of his father—someone he had never known before. “What did he _do?_ ”

His father had told him difficult things before. Hard things that perhaps fathers _shouldn’t_ tell their children, even if their children are old enough to hear them. But Youji had always respected Kasamatsu’s maturity—Kasamatsu _thought_ he had his father’s trust. But when his father’s eyes grew distant, hard, removed, Kasamatsu knew he wasn’t going to get an answer.

It came somewhat as a surprise when Youji _did_ start explaining. Or at least, part of it.

“When your mother died, Seiji called,” Youji’s voice was thick—detached but also somehow like he was near tears, in a way he always sounded when he talked about Kasamatsu’s mother. “I _thought_ he was reaching out—offering his support.

“But he called to tell me that Hinami’s death was her just punishment for not staying at home to be a mother to her sons.”

Kasamatsu reeled back, surprised by the surge of fury and sadness that could still course through him, raw and fresh, even though his mother had been dead for nine years.

“That—wasn’t the worst thing Seiji did. It’s not even the most horrible. Seiji was not a good man—and he wasn’t even as bad as the rest. But it was by far the most unforgivable. I would spit on that man’s corpse before I ever forgave him for what he said.”

Youji pinned Kasamatsu down with his stare. “ _Promise_ me that you won’t go down there, Yukio. I don’t want you to have anything to do with those people. They’re not—they’re not people you should know. Please, Yukio. For my sake, stay away, just promise me that.”

But Kasamatsu very deliberately did not promise anything.

*

“Wow,” Kise says, when Kasamatsu is done talking. “Wow, OK.” He leans back in his seat, his nose scrunched up in thought. “So… _why_ are you going to your uncle’s memorial? He sounds like a real dickface.”

Kasamatsu sighs again—it’s been a sighing kind of week. “Because of Sousuke. My cousin,” he clarifies, at Kise’s confusion. “We used to be close when we were younger. We kept in touch, even when our dads disowned each other. We used to email and call each other pretty regularly, but, I don’t know. I guess we stopped around the time high school started. We both got pretty busy, I guess. Even if his dad was a dick, Sousuke was always a good guy, and I want to be there for him.”

“Even though you haven’t talked in a couple years?” Kise says doubtfully.

Kasamatsu shrugs and looks away. “It’s hard losing a parent.”

Kise doesn’t have anything to say to that. A few seconds tick by in silence before Kise lurches forward again. “Hey, wait a minute, I thought you said this guy’s name was Yamazaki!” At Kasamatsu’s frown he continues, “You did! You said you were going to see your cousin, Yamazaki Sousuke, I made sure to remember—”

“Yeah?” Kasamatsu says, confused by Kise’s indignation.

“Well—you said his dad was Youji-san’s brother.”

“Yeah?” Kasamatsu says again.

Kise scowls. “So, what, are they half-brothers or something?”

“ _Oh,_ ” Kasamatsu says, Kise’s point finally sinking in. “No—you don’t know?” Kise had been living with their family for over a year now, and he’d been on pretty close terms with Youji ever since he escaped from Teiko. Kasamatsu had assumed it had come up at some point.

“Kasamatsu was my mother’s family name,” Kasamatsu explains. “She was an only child and her parents died in a car crash when she was sixteen. It was important to her to keep the family line going. Since my dad had been disowned and he hated _his_ family, he took her last name when they married.”

“Wow,” Kise says, sounding impressed. He thinks on it and says, “Although if my name had been ‘Yamazaki Youji’ I would have changed it too. Hey, that means _you_ were almost ‘Yamazaki Yukio.’ How weird is that?”

“No,” Kasamatsu says quietly. “I don’t think that would have ever been the case. Even if my dad _had_ gotten along with his family, he still would have taken her name. He loved her a lot.”

Kise’s eyes study him meditatively. It’s a bit strange, since he still looks like Takao. Kasamatsu, to his knowledge, is the only one who could ever recognize Kise no matter who he Copies, even when Kise is actively trying to pretend to be someone else. But it’s still a bit strange to see someone else’s face look at him with a distinctly _Kise_ -like intensity.

“What was she like? Your mom? I tried asking Youji-san once and all he would say is that she would have loved me and that she was a lot like you.”

“I try to be like _her,_ ” Kasamatsu corrects. Hinami _would_ have loved Kise—but it would have been a hard love. She had zero tolerance for flighty behavior. She would have encouraged the best in him while acknowledging the worst, and all things considered, Kise would have benefited a lot from having someone like Kasamatsu Hinami to guide him and be a role model.

“When I was about seven, we went to this grocery store,” Kasamatsu starts, recalling one of his most vivid memories of his mother. “There were a lot of moms out with their kids that day. And then all of the sudden, this guy just started _screaming_ at this woman. I can’t remember why, exactly. She was different from other women in some way, I know that. And he was just—yelling at her. I thought he was going to hit her—it was really scary.

“And my mom—she just got between the man and the woman. She started talking to the woman first, ignoring the guy. And when he started yelling at _her_ she just looked him square in the eye and said, ‘Sir, you are making a scene.’

“The thing is, she could have kicked his ass, easy. She was military too, you know? Taking him down wouldn’t have been a problem. And I think he must have sensed that, because he backed off. Later, the other women at the store started grumbling, saying things like how _they_ would have stepped in, but their kids were there—implying that my mom was a bad mother since she put me in danger.

“And my mom just said—‘It’s _because_ my son is here that I had to intervene. I don’t want my children to ever think it’s OK to stand aside while someone else gets hurt.’”

He had to swallow then, awash with the intensity of his own memory.

“Hmm. She _does_ sound just like you, Senpai. It actually explains a lot about you, actually. I wish I could have met her.”

Kasamatsu nods, mostly to himself. Yeah, he wishes Kise could have met her, too.

*

When they finally reach Iwatobi it feels like they’ve been on that train forever. Kasamatsu feels exhausted just from the journey, but he feels a spike of anxiety as he knows it’s only the beginning.

Kise was quiet through the rest of the trip—either thinking through what Kasamatsu had told him or realizing that maybe Kasamatsu needed to be alone with his thoughts.

It’s been a long time since Kasamatsu has been in his father’s home town. He wonders if it means anything that Youji grew up near the ocean and even when he disavowed everything from his past he still lived near the sea.

“Hmm,” Kise says. “Cheery.”

The flatness of his voice draws Kasamatsu out of his thoughts, and he looks first to Kise, who has a very hard expression, and then follows Kise’s gaze to see what the younger boy is looking at.

Kise is, against all odds, looking at a picture of himself. It’s one of his advertisement spreads from his modeling gig, plastered on the side of a bus stop. Except, spray painted over Kise’s smiling picture are the words:

FREAKS MUST DIE.

*

Kise, of course, had only laughed it off, and refused to even consider getting back on the train and going home when Kasamatsu suggested it.

“It’s nothing, Senpai. Just graffiti. You can’t get rid at me _that_ easily, not when you finally invited me out of a romantic getaway.”

Kasamatsu had scowled, knowing that Kise was trying to change the subject. He hadn’t wanted to drop the matter, but they needed to check in to their hotel and get to a funeral.

*

Kasamatsu and Kise keep to the very back. A few people stare at Kasamatsu, frowning, but no one questions him being there. Kasamatsu thinks he must look enough like a relative (which, stands to reason, since he _is_ ) that no one thinks too hard about why he’s here.

He hadn’t fully understood just how deeply uncomfortable it would be for him to sit through this. He’s a stranger here, and he doesn’t belong. He scans the crowd and picks out Sousuke, sitting near the front, easily enough. It’s been years since he last saw his cousin, but somehow he still looks so incredibly familiar he has no trouble recognizing him.

When it’s his turn to pray in front of the deceased’s photo, he’s not sure how he’s supposed to feel. The photo depicts a man who looks a lot like Youji, only his face is stern and his eyes cold. He looks so much like Kasamatsu’s father it’s eerie—because it’s like Youji, only if Youji had never smiled, or loved anyone.

Kasamatsu prays the man found peace.

*

“What are you doing here, Yukio?”

It’s not exactly surprising that Sousuke sought him out immediately after the ceremony was finished; and the anger isn’t surprising either. He’s just not fully sure he knows what he’s going to say yet.

He stands up straight (only slightly jealous of how tall his cousin is) and meets Sousuke’s gaze. “I’m here for you.”

“I told you not to come!”

It’s how _genuinely_ angry Sousuke sounds that makes Kasamatsu think it really _was_ a mistake to come here. Even now, he’s not sure why he bothered.

“Don’t be like that, Kasamatsu-san was really worried about you!”

Takao’s wheedling, jocular tone startles Kasamatsu, not expecting the Shutoku Second Year here, and forgetting that Kise hadn’t shifted back.

“Who are you?” Sousuke eyes Kise with disgruntled hostility.

“Takao Kazunari,” Kise says instantly. “I’m Kasamatsu-san’s kouhai in basketball. It’s nice to meet you!”

Sousuke doesn’t accept Kise’s outstretched hand. Instead, he just focuses back on Kasamatsu. “You don’t belong here, Yukio. Just leave, OK? I don’t want to see you.”

Sousuke leaves before Kasamatsu can get another word in.

“Wow, that guy is pricklier than Shin-chan.”

“Stop that,” Kasamatsu jerks, panic rising suddenly.

“What?” Kise’s eyes flick back to him, surprised.

“Acting like Takao. It’s freaking me out.”

Kise opens his mouth and then closes it, pensive. It’s possible he didn’t even realize he’d called Midorima “Shin-chan” instead of “Midorimacchi.”

“Takao notices things,” Kise says enigmatically. “I’m thinking it’s actually a good thing I came as him.”

Kasamatsu definitely wants to pursue that further, but not here. Not among the mourners who don’t want him intruding on their grief.

*

“You know, I feel distinctly cheated. Whenever this happens in TV, there’s only one room left and it only has one bed,” Kise remarks, flopping down on the bed nearest the window. “Where is my one bed?”

“Here in the real world, there were plenty of vacancies and I booked a room with two beds,” Kasamatsu says, sitting down on the unclaimed bed.

Kise pouts at him. In the privacy of their own room he’s shifted back to his own form, and Kasamatsu feels like he can’t admit how much of a relief it is to see Kise’s face. “I’m beginning to think you haven’t thought this romantic getaway through at all, Senpai.”

“This isn’t a romantic getaway,” Kasamatsu says half-heartedly. He appreciates Kise’s efforts to distract him, but he doesn’t really feel up for distraction. “God, I don’t even know what I’m doing here. This was stupid.”

“You’re here because you care,” Kise says, his voice incredibly fond. The affection there warms Kasamatsu and he thinks for just a second how lucky he is to have someone like Kise who is so supportive.

Then Kise bounces on the bed, and he’s there at Kise’s side, staring down at him with a wicked expression. “You’ve had a long day, Senpai, and you need to relax. I can think of a few things we can do to relax you.”

Kasamatsu swallows, feeling heavy with the intensity of Kise’s focus. He’s never known what to do with Kise looking at him like this and now, now when the day _has_ been long, and he feels drained from all the emotions that have been fretting through his body, he thinks how nice it would be to just _lose_ himself. “Kise—”

“I know where we can go!” Kise says, bouncing up again and pulling a startled Kasamatsu with him. “I saw it just as we were coming in to town. Come on, Senpai, you’re going to love it.”

They’re out there door, with Kasamatsu having no idea what just happened.

*

“Kise.”

“Yes, Senpai?”

“Are we at a night club right now?”

“Yes!” Kise says, sounding extraordinarily pleased with himself.

Kasamatsu rubs his eyes and regrets his life choices. “ _How_ did you even—never mind. We’re _both_ under the drinking age, so we won’t be able to get inside. Especially if you still look like Takao.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Senpai, the trick to getting into anywhere is confidence.”

*

And somehow they _do_ get inside; there’s loud music and flashing lights and bodies everywhere, and Kasamatsu is _definitely_ regretting his life choices now.

“Kise—”

“Best call me Takao,” Kise says, pressing up against Kasamatsu’s body. “Come on, dance with me, Senpai.”

The offer would be a lot more tempting if Kise didn’t currently look like one of his friends.

“This is dumb,” Kasamatsu says, pulling away. “I’m not sure why you thought this is something I’d ever want, but—”

“Just _one_ dance,” Kise says, pulling on Kasamatsu. “I’ve always wanted—” he breaks off abruptly.

“ _What?_ ” Kasamatsu snaps, losing the last of his patience.

“Huh.”

“Oh, for the love of—”

Kise turns Kasamatsu towards what caught his gaze. Kasamatsu stares.

There’s a young man submerged in a large tank of water near the stage. He has gills at his side, webbing at his feet like fins, and by all appearance, is breathing underwater.

“Huh,” Kasamatsu says.

*

“He must be from Teiko,” Kasamatsu hisses. “The second Teiko.” He shakes with barely contained rage as he thinks about it. Some poor kid was abducted and experimented on, and now he’s kept in some jar for _entertainment_. He is _so_ going to call his father about this—he wants to bring the entire wrath of the JSDF down on this stupid club and the stupid people who have put this man on display.

“Yeah, maybe,” Kise says, off-hand.

“ _Maybe?_ ” Kasamatsu exclaims.

“Probably,” Kise allows, but he sounds doubtful. His eyes are fixed on the tank, thoughtfully.

“We have to get him out of there! I’m going to call my dad—”

“Wait,” Kise says, stilling Kasamatsu’s hand as he reaches for his phone. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Not yet.”

“ _Why?”_ Kasamatsu snaps. Kise—and the other Miracles—sometimes hesitate when it comes to asking for help from outside authority. And Kasamatsu _gets_ it—the Miracles weren’t raised to depend on other people, they were trained to only count on themselves. But after everything that’s happened, Kasamatsu would hope by now they’ve come to realize that they don’t need to do everything alone.

“There’s something weird about this town.”

Kasamatsu bites back his automatic exclamation; Kise has this speculative serious look that isn’t quite him. It’s more like the look of someone who is a trained Point Guard and a keen observer.

_Takao notices things._

“What do you mean?” Kasamatsu asks quietly.

Takao’s hawk-like eyes flick across the thrum of dancing bodies, to where a lone figure sits, staring intently at the boy in the tank. “He’s been sitting there this entire time and he hasn’t stopped staring at the tank.”

“That’s not so unusual,” Kasamatsu says. The man Kise’s talking about looks around his own age—not really all that suspicious. Handsome, with striking blue eyes.

“He’s military trained,” Kise says. “And it’s like he’s on a mission. I’m going to go talk to him. You better stay here, Senpai.”

“What?” Kasamatsu whips his head back to his boyfriend. “No—what are you planning on doing?”

“Nothing dangerous, I promise,” Kise says. And he presses a quick kiss against Kasamatsu’s lips and darts away.

*

Kasamatsu figures that he _could_ pursue Kise, and have a few choice words with his boyfriend about leaving him behind. But Kise had looked so serious—and worried. Kasamatsu thinks about the graffiti that had greeted them when they got into town, and he figures maybe there _is_ something weird going on.

Kise and the mysterious stranger have disappeared anyway. (Kasamatsu isn’t going to worry about that—not yet). So without much else to do he moves closer to where the merman is in his tank.

There’s a crowd there already.

“—It’s so wild. I wonder how he’s doing it?”

“It looks kind of real, don’t ‘cha think?”

“No way, it’s just a stunt.”

“I heard some fishermen brought him in.”

“Stupid! Of course that’s what they’re saying, it’s all for publicity.”

Someone giggles. “If they make them _that_ fine in the ocean then I need to take up fishing, because _damn._ ”

It’s not hard to see what the admirers were fawning over—the young man in the tank is _incredibly_ good looking. Even if Kasamatsu _wasn’t_ gay, he’d still have to admire the very nice broad chest and handsome features.

Up close, Kasamatsu thinks the merman is not as old as he thought—maybe not that much older than himself. He’s tall and wearing swim shorts, but his legs and back have black and white markings, like an orca whale, and his feet elongated into flippers, with webbing between his fingers.

He has brown hair, and incredibly sad green eyes. The man looks frightened, Kasamatsu thinks, and he feels a surge of anger all over again for the people who brought him here.

Kasamatsu pushes his way through the crowd, so that he reaches the tank. The merman’s eyes widen at the sight of him and he swims back—if had anywhere to hide, he would be hiding. Kasamatsu places a hand against the tank, pleading—he wishes there was some way he could convey that he was a friend, that he was here to help, but all he can do is stare desperately.

Something must come through from his face, because the merman swims forward, looking curious. Green eyes meet his and Kasamatsu doesn’t dare look away.

 _I’m going to help you,_ he thinks. _I’m going to free you._

The merman smiles then, kind and sad, like he could hear what Kasamatsu was thinking.

Then the merman jerks suddenly, like he’s in pain. He turns his back and presses up against the other side of the tank, tapping against the glass. Kasamatsu hears a keening, echoing sound, like the kind a whale might make when hurt.

And he has a bad feeling about where Kise is.

*

Pushing his way through the crowd once again, Kasamatsu reaches the back exit. He bursts through the door and immediately hears sounds of a scuffle.

Kise, who has reverted back to his own appearance, fights with the black-haired stranger, and it would be clear even without Kasamatsu’s background knowledge of the military that both men are trained fighters.

“Kise!” Kasamatsu shouts. Kise flips the stranger and pins him to the ground by his throat. It had been clear from the three second glimpse that Kise was by far the superior fighter, and there’s an edge to him—he has that same look he gets whenever Teiko intrudes onto their lives in some way.

“Kise, stop!” Kasamatsu shouts. He moves to restrain Kise’s arm.

“Senpai? What—”

“I don’t think he’s the enemy,” Kasamatsu says, just as the stranger begins to shift underneath Kise. The man’s hands change, as webbing appears, and gray markings appear on his legs that now end with fins.

“Oh,” Kise says, taking a step back.

The man makes a series of clicking sounds, like a dolphin, and he glares at _Kasamatsu_ in a murderous way.

Kise notes the direction of the man’s stare, and some of his earlier hostility returns as he moves to stand in front of Kasamatsu.

And then people in the night club begin screaming.

*

The man shoves Kise away, his merman appendages disappearing as he gets up.

“Makoto!” he yells.

—Kise’s priority in the split second after the screams began was to cover Kasamatsu, hearing (better than Kasamatsu could, as it was later explained) the sounds of the flash grenades, smoke bombs, and glass breaking.

With Kise pressed up against him as a shield, Kasamatsu can only dimly see the figures bursting out of the night club. They’re dressed up in black army gear and masks, and they’re dragging the still form of the merman. They also, he manages to note in the dim light, carry guns.

“Makoto!” the blue-eyed man shouts again, leaping to his feet and taking off after the armed men. The weight surrounding Kasamatsu abruptly disappears as Kise jumps up and takes off in pursuit. Kasamatsu struggles to his feet, really only processing that Kise is pursuing _armed men_ and feeling the need to kick some sense into his boyfriend who is clearly an _idiot._

But when he catches up to Kise again, the armed men are long gone, and Kise is once again fighting with the blue-eyed stranger.

“This is _your_ fault!” the stranger yells, as he grabs Kise’s collar and shoves him against the wall.

Kise isn’t fighting back, so he at least must have come to the conclusion that this man isn’t a threat, no matter how angry he is. “Hey, you attacked me _first,_ remember? I just wanted to talk!”

“Both of you, calm down,” Kasamatsu snaps. “We need to—”

The stranger’s expression hardens, shifting his attention to Kasamatsu like he’s moving to hit him, but Kise intervenes, quickly shifting the situation so that he’s now the one in charge, with the other boy’s back to the wall. “See, now, it was when you were moving to attack Senpai the _first_ time that I started fighting back. You don’t want to keep making the same mistake, do you?”

Before the angry merman can respond shouts interrupt all three of them. “Haruka-senpai!” “Haru-chan!”

Kise whirls again, so that he’s positioned in front of Kasamatsu, and the stranger takes the chance to bound away. The three newcomers don’t _look_ like threats—they don’t look any older than Kise, and there wouldn’t be anything remarkable about them at all, except for the fact that they all have strange colored eyes, and the girl even has dark red hair, and Kasamatsu has come to associate that with something very particular.

The newcomers aren’t really looking at Kise or Kasamatsu, though. Their focus is on the blue-eyed boy.

“Haru-chan,” the short, blonde-haired boy with reddish eyes says. “Did you find him?”

The blue-eyed boy, Haru, clenches his fists and shakes his head. “I was too late. _They_ have him. _Archer has him._ ”

The red-haired girl gasps, putting her hands to her mouth. The blonde-haired boy slumps. The black-haired boy in glasses looks like he’s about to cry. “It’s my fault,” he says. “I slowed everyone down. If—”

“No, Rei-chan, Haru-chan shouldn’t have took off without us,” the blonde-haired boy says.

“Who _are_ you people?” Kise demands.

It’s only then that the three newcomers notice Kise—and by extension, Kasamatsu. And Kasamatsu thinks it must be his imagination, but the red-haired girl and the blonde-haired boy both seem startled when they see _him,_ both taking a step back with eyes widened in fear. (But _surely_ that’s just his imagination. Why would they be afraid of _him?_ )

Only the boy wearing glasses fixates on Kise. “You’re a Yellow Six.”

This catches the attention of the other two (the angry, blue-eyed boy only scowling further, and deliberately looking everywhere _but_ Kise).

“No way,” the blonde-haired boy says. “You’re _Teiko?_ ”

Kise’s eyes narrow. “And you’re _not_. Who the hell are you? _What_ are you?”

Kasamatsu jerks back slightly, wondering what it is that Kise saw that he didn’t, wondering how he could be so sure those four were not from Teiko.

It’s the blonde-haired boy who answers, “We’re Samezuka,” like that should explain everything. When it _doesn’t_ and Kise just looks at them, confused, the blonde haired boy tilts his head and says:

“What, you didn’t _really_ think Teiko was the only facility making superhumans—did you?”


	2. Chapter 2

Shortly after the Special Diet had passed, Akashi had assembled them all with strict orders not to tell their human boyfriends or their human families that the meeting was even taking place (learning, perhaps, from previous encounters that there was a good chance the human boyfriends would follow their significant others to the meeting place, if they knew about it).

“We need to talk about the other facilities that Nijimura-san mentioned,” Akashi said.

Akashi’s statement didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but no one expected Kise’s reaction. Not even by Kise.

“No, Akashicchi, we don’t.”

Everyone had collectively stared at Kise like he had lost his mind. Kise was feeling a little bit like he had. He had spent his life never defying anyone—not Akashi, not Teiko. The only excuse he’d had for his reaction was that he’d been in love with Kasamatsu for almost three years and Kasamatsu had only recently reciprocated those feelings, and the whole thing left him feeling a little drunk and reckless.

“Do you care to explain that, Kise?” Akashi asked in that soft, dangerous voice of his that everyone knew better than to disobey.

But Kise didn’t back down. “We’ve been in the public eye ever since we escaped Teiko and those _other_ facilities—assuming they exist—never once made a move against us. If we go after them now it would only be deliberately antagonizing people who have never interfered with our lives.”

“Just because they have never been a threat, doesn’t mean they are not,” Akashi replied calmly.

“Yes, it does, as far as I’m concerned,” Kise said, tossing all caution to the wind. “I have a boyfriend now, I have a _family_ now—just because you _don’t_ , Akashicchi, doesn’t mean the _rest_ of us should be dragged into threats that aren’t there. We just got over one disaster, there’s no point in rushing into another one.”

That was, perhaps, the bravest and also most dangerous thing Kise had ever done.

After a moment of tense silence, Midorima said, “Kise’s right.” He didn’t look at Akashi when he said it, but he continued speaking, “It is not only our lives at stake anymore. Nijimura-san indicated the other facilities were not a threat. We shouldn’t needlessly court danger simply out of curiosity.”

“It would be bothersome,” Murasakibara said, which was the closest Murasakibara ever came to defying Akashi.

Aomine and Momoi didn’t say anything, and Kise thought perhaps they were waiting to see how this would all play out. Momoi was not the kind of person to let any kind of unknown exist—chances were she had already looked into these “other” facilities on her own. Aomine would fight anything, if it seemed like a fight needed to happen.

“Kuroko?” Akashi said, turning to the only other Miracle who hadn’t spoken. “Do you agree with this assessment?”

As always, it was impossible to tell what Kuroko was thinking. And it was hard for Kise to even guess which side Kuroko would be on. Kuroko cared about humans more than any of them, and it was hard to think he’d be willing to expose the humans he cared about to more danger.

But he was also the boy who had brought down Teiko.

When Kuroko spoke up, it was in a slow and thoughtful way, and it was still impossible to guess what was going on in his mind. “I think it would, perhaps, be _kinder_ if we do not get involved with those other facilities.”

Everyone glanced around, verifying that no one had a clue what the hell Kuroko was talking about. Everyone, that is, except Momoi, whose lips were a thin line as she purposefully did not look anywhere.

“Kinder,” Akashi repeated, his voice flat.

And when Kuroko looked up everyone could see the haunted and hardened look in his eyes. “Teiko burned to the ground because of us. Perhaps it would be best if we didn’t interfere with those other facilities.”

 _That_ was something that Kise—and everyone else but Momoi—had missed entirely. What calling attention to other facilities might do to whatever Projects might be there.

There wasn’t much argument after that. Perhaps even Akashi agreed they all had enough blood on their hands without adding more.

*

And let’s face it, Kise hadn’t wanted to know. He was sure, even then, that there was no way Akashi was just going to let this go, not entirely. He knew _Momoi_ wouldn’t let it go. But they’d all agreed that it didn’t need to be a group affair, so that was that. Kise didn’t want to keep chasing after the sins of his past. He had Kasamatsu, and he had a father and two younger brothers; he had a basketball team and a side job and those were the things he wanted to focus on.

But now, faced with these teens who are all staring at him with a mixture of awe and hostility, he can’t help but feel like this is some sort of divine punishment for defying Akashi.

“We don’t have time for this,” the angry one snaps—the one they all called “Haru” and who Kise had been fighting with earlier. “We have to—” he stumbles then, and Kise catches him instinctively, but the other boy shakes him off.

“Haru-chan!” the blonde-haired boy says, moving forward. “How long has it been?”

“I’m fine,” Haru snarls.

“You’re not,” says the dark haired boy. He reminds Kise of Midorima, and not just because they both have glasses. “You would have hit land at least three hours ago, by my calculations, and if you’ve been here the entire time then you need—”

“I need to find Makoto!” Haru says, and Kise finds that he can relate to that urgency in his voice; the pain and desperation that comes when someone you love is in danger.

But even Kise can see the other boy isn’t doing well. He’s pale and shaking—Kise would have thought it was fear for his friend, except the others all look too concerned.

The other three just stare at each other helplessly, and Kise gets it. They’re not used to being in charge. He’s willing to bet they all usually defer to Haru, or maybe the absent Makoto, and they don’t know how to disobey now even when they’re clearly right.

“What does he need?” Kasamatsu says, stepping up, and Kise doesn’t miss the way the girl and the smaller boy flinch at the sight of him.

The glasses boy replies, “Water,” in an apologetic tone. “Haruka-senpai has a high water-land ratio, so he needs to be in water—”

“ _Rei,_ ” Haru rebukes.

“Will a bathtub work? Or does it have to be sea water?” Kasamatsu asks.

“Any water would be fine,” Rei answers.

“We have a bathtub in our hotel. Your friend can take a soak in it while you fill us in on what’s happening,” Kasamatsu says, and the others all look relieved just to have someone to obey they don’t question it.

“Senpai?” Kise says, doubtfully.

“We’re going to help them,” Kasamatsu says, and Kise resists the urge to sigh. It was a very Kasamatsu thing to decide.

“Whatever you say, Senpai.”

*

Kise wonders what it says about his life that he now has the world’s angriest merman in his hotel bathtub and it’s not even the strangest thing about this night.

The others introduce themselves—Rei, Nagisa, and Gou—and only because Kise’s watching, he notices the slight way Nagisa and Gou relax when Kasamatsu introduces himself as “Kasamatsu Yukio.” He doesn’t like the way they watch Kasamatsu _at all_ and he’s not about to forget that Haru hadn’t lashed out until after he saw Kasamatsu. But Kise’s boyfriend is determined they should all be amicable, and there’s too much of a captain in him, too much of an automatic authority, for the others not to instinctively obey.

“So you’re from this other place? Samezuka?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Nagisa says, bounding to his feet. “Or at least, we _were_. We escaped! Not too long after _you_ did, 626.”

Kise doesn’t bother correcting this—Nagisa looks like an adorable bouncy innocent child, but he has a shrewd gleam in his eyes and Kise thinks he’s using the designation very strategically. After all, their designations had never been released to the public. Besides, Kise is a Yellow Six. He knows better than to trust outward appearances.

“ _You’re_ not,” Kise says bluntly, looking at Rei. There’s been something different about _this_ one from the start, and now that they’re all in the same room and he’s close enough to study him, Kise’s finally figured out what it is. “You’re one of the Spliced children from the second Teiko.”

Rei flinches, which hadn’t exactly been Kise’s intent, and now Nagisa is scowling at him and he feels like a bully.

“Yes, that’s right,” Rei says awkwardly. “S6-934B. I only—I’ve only been swimming with the others for about a year, so I’m not—”

“He’s one of us,” Nagisa says, and he glares at Kise, like Kise might try and take Rei away from them.

“So you escaped Samezuka,” Kasamatsu says, keeping everyone on track. “Then what?”

The others all look at each other, confused by the question. Nagisa just shrugs. “And then we kept running. Or swimming, to be exact! Archer never stopped looking for us, so we had to keep moving.”

“And Archer is?” Kasamatsu prompts.

Nagisa stares at Kasamatsu’s face for a very long time before responding, “He’s called ‘the Sagittarius’ because he’s the Elder of the Sagittarius-line, but we always just called him Archer. He’s very, very, very persistent.”

“Why didn’t you ever come forward?” Kasamatsu presses. “If you knew about the Miracles, you must have known it was safe. The JSDF would have protected you.”

Kise hears an angry snort coming the bathtub, but he figures Kasamatsu hearing probably wasn’t good enough to catch it.

“It’s not as easy all that,” the girl says. “Samezuka wasn’t like Teiko.”

“Samezuka breeds soldiers,” Nagisa quips, and it’s clear from his tone that he’s quoting something and that the quote is unfinished, but he doesn’t continue.

“Teiko was a private organization,” Gou continues, “Samezuka is funded by the government.”

“That’s not possible,” Kasamatsu says flatly, and Kise winces.

“It’s true!” Nagisa insists. “Our people are in every branch of government. There’s probably even some in the JSDF. Most of us just look like regular people, you know? So you never know who to trust. Definitely not anyone official, though.”

“You sound _completely_ paranoid,” Kasamatsu says.

Nagisa shrugs. “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

Kasamatsu, probably because he was raised in a military family, has a lot of faith in the law. Kise does not have that same faith. And he feels like now is probably not the time to disillusion Kasamatsu about what the law is capable of, so he changes the subject.

“So, your friend got captured? How did he end up in a night club?”

“He got caught in a fisherman’s net,” Nagisa corrects. “We try not to get too close to shore, usually. But the fisherman must have sold Mako-chan to the night club, and then Archer’s men got him.”

“And we need to get him _back_ ,” Haru says, coming out from the bathroom, dripping water all over the hotel floor.

“Haru-chan,” Nagisa says piteously.

“Haruka-senpai,” Gou says, lowering her gaze. “When Archer didn’t have him, it was different, but—”

“ _No,”_ Haru says. “We get him back.”

Kise is familiar with this kind of desperation. When Gray, or “Haizaki Shougo,” returned to their lives he targeted Kise in particular, and thus, Kasamatsu. It had been the worst couple of weeks in Kise’s life—worse than anything he ever experienced in Teiko, because here was this person he loved more than anything else in the world, and he was in danger because of that love.

It was enough to make him wonder what the point of love was at all, if it just meant something like this could happen.

Kise had never quite understood what it meant to be a killer before that time. His own rage had been frightening, and he knew there was _nothing_ he wouldn’t have done to keep Kasamatsu safe.

That’s what he hears in Haru’s voice—the determination to cross any line to get his friend back.

“I’ll help you,” Kise says, brightly. He is sure that is what Kasamatsu would want. “All the Miracles will help! We like taking down facilities, it’s like a hobby of ours. Let me call them, I’m sure—”

“There’s no time,” Haru says.

When he doesn’t elaborate, Nagisa scrunches up his nose and says, “None of the other Miracles are here, right? They’re all super, suuuuuuper far away, right? If we want to get Mako-chan back we have to act _now_ , before he gets transferred to the main branch.”

Everyone stares at him.

“Archer will have him in the local Iwatobi branch, but they’ll have to send him to one of the other branches for reprogramming,” Nagisa says helpfully.

“ _Other_ branches?” Kasamatsu repeats.

“Sure, Samezuka is just the Sagittarius and Capricorn branch,” Nagisa says with a shrug.

“It is why it’s been so difficult to run from them,” Gou says sadly. “They’re all over the world.”

This sinks in and Kise’s stomach churns. His first thought is, _Akashicchi is going to be so pissed._

His second thought is that Aomine at least _could_ get here relatively quickly—that was his ability, after all—but if he involves Aomine it would also mean involving Momoi, and then all the other Miracles would be involved. And maybe it’s best if they _aren’t_ involved just yet, until Kise can figure out just how big a conspiracy there is (and just how deeply pissed Akashi is going to be upon realizing they should have been investigating this all along).

“OK,” Kise says slowly, “OK, that’s…not great. But! We can still do this. A simple snatch and grab, yeah? No problem, infiltration is my specialty!”

 _“Kise,”_ Kasamatsu says, in a way that Kise feels is very unfair, since Kasamatsu was the first one to suggest helping them.

The Samezuka crowd all stare at him with varying degrees of speculative glances. Kise can more or less guess what they’re thinking—why should we trust you, is this a trap, is it worth trusting this guy.

If the situation had been reversed—if the Miracles had been on the run, and some other superpowered person offered to help them, Akashi would have never accepted that offer, no matter how dire the situation was. None of the Miracles would have. They were trained to handle situations on their own or not at all. They would have died rather than trust a stranger.

It says volumes about how different Samezuka was compared to Teiko when Haru just nods and says, “Fine.”

“Kise, can I see you outside for a minute?” Kasamatsu says through gritted teeth.

“Don’t take too long,” Haru says, “Or we’ll leave without you.”

*

“Senpai, I know what you’re going to say,” Kise rushes in before Kasamatsu gets the chance to talk, “But you heard them, they’re heading out now, and we don’t have time to wait for the other Miracles.”

“I—”

“ _Or_ the military,” Kise continues. “And anyway, I don’t think we could involve the JSDF with this anyways, not if it’s like they said.”

“Yeah, but—”

“We need more information anyway, and that’s what I’m good for. I promise, we’ll tell your dad all about it, once we know what’s going on, but—”

“Would you shut up and let me talk already?!” Kasamatsu shouts, derailing Kise’s thoughts entirely.

“Senpai?” He sorta expects to be kicked at any moment in this situation. It’s a little weird that he hasn’t been.

Kasamatsu isn’t looking at him at all—he’s rigid and bristling and clearly unhappy. “I know. We only have two options in this, help or walk away. Those guys in there aren’t going to wait around for help.”

And Kasamatsu Yukio is not the kind of person who walks away. That’s one of the reasons why Kise loves him so much.

“But there isn’t much sense in doing this alone, is there? Some of the other Miracles might help. Or,” Kasamatsu scrunches his nose up in thought. “Or we could call that Nijimura guy, yeah? He knew about the other facilities, and—”

“No!” Kise bursts out, “Not the Rainbow. I definitely don’t want to be anywhere near a Rainbow, ever again.”

Kasamatsu blinks. “Well, he’s in America, so it’s not like we could get him _here_. I just thought he might know something. Wasn’t he your friend?”

“He was… sort of in charge of us, for a brief while. I didn’t really know him all that well.” He thinks about their time with the Rainbow King and he grudgingly admits, “He wasn’t a _bad_ person. He kept Gray in line when no one else could. I just—you don’t know what it’s like to be near a Rainbow, Senpai. It’s just feels _wrong._ Like someone has cut off all your senses. I don’t even like being near—” he breaks off abruptly and then sidetracks, “Besides, I don’t have his number, and I’m sure _you_ don’t, and there’s no point in getting him involved. Or the other Miracles, not yet. If the others get involved it’ll just be a huge thing. Better keep it simple for now.”

Kasamatsu looks like he still wants to protest this, but he’s visibly holding himself back from arguing further. Maybe he sees Kise’s logic, or at least, respects that Kise doesn’t want his friends involved. He looks so torn up about what’s happening and Kise softens as he thinks about how conflicted the other man is probably feeling right now. Wanting to help the Samezuka folk, but not wanting Kise in danger. He feels the same way, after all.

“Maybe you should go see your cousin,” Kise says gently.

This causes Kasamatsu to glare at him—with those clear grey-blue eyes of him that always see right through Kise. “Be a little more subtle about getting rid of me, won’t you?”

“ _Senpai,_ I’m not—that’s not what I’m—” he has trouble phrasing the lie in a way that would be convincing.

“I get it,” Kasamatsu says, his hands gripped in fists at his side. “I do get it. I can’t help you with things like this. But I _hate_ it.”

It’s times like this that Kise feels incredibly helpless. His boyfriend is upset, and he has no idea what he’s supposed to do. He _wants_ to say, _let’s forget the whole thing, let’s go home._ But that wouldn’t make Kasamatsu happy. And he can’t exactly say, _Of course you should stick around and help us break into a secret government facility,_ because that wouldn’t make _Kise_ happy.

He _wants_ to send Kasamatsu back to Kanagawa, and if he had Akashi’s ability, that’s exactly what he would do (which, all things considered, is why Kise has always been glad he didn’t possess Absolute Order).

There is something strange going on in this town, and Kise really wishes they never come here. But if Kasamatsu can’t go with them, and if he won’t go home, Kise will feel a lot better if Kasamatsu isn’t alone right now.

“You came for him anyway,” Kise says, his voice more reasonable this time as he drops the pretense about sending Kasamatsu away. “You came to help him. So you should go deal with your messed-up family situation and I’ll deal with my messed-up family situation, sound fair?”

Kasamatsu huffs a half-laugh, surprised by his own reaction. “Yeah, OK. Just—be safe, idiot.” He presses a kiss against Kise’s lips, firm and demanding, and Kise feels a rush at the contact, just like every time Kasamatsu kisses him. It’s enough to make him want to forget this whole thing entirely and press Kasamatsu up against the wall and abandon all self-control.

Kasamatsu pulls away first and Kise makes a whimpering sound of protest.

“Stop that,” Kasamatsu admonishes. “You have to be a hero. We can always continue when you get back. There will be plenty of time for more later.”

“Wh-what _?”_ Kise is sure he must have misheard. Or misunderstood. Surely Kasamatsu wasn’t _really_ saying what he thought he was saying.

“You heard me,” Kasamatsu says, in that half-growl he always speaks in when he’s embarrassed. “So come back soon, OK?”

“Yes! Of course! I’ll be super fast, Senpai, you’ll see, this whole thing will be over before you know it—”

“Just be safe,” Kasamatsu says firmly. “I’ll just…go deal with my messed-up family.”

“Great!” the hotel door swings open, revealing a grinning Nagisa, “Rei-chan will go with you!”

“Wh—Nagisa!” Rei says.

Kise, a little peeved by the interruption, and also _very_ unwilling to leave Kasamatsu alone with _anyone_ he doesn’t know, says, “He’s Teiko-trained, isn’t he? He should help us.”

“Oh,” Rei says, visibly deflating. “Well, yes, naturally, I _do_ have a lot of assets in a conflict, really, and I am _sure_ that I could help Makoto-san, but, that is to say—”

“He wasn’t in Teiko for very long,” Nagisa pipes up, “So he can’t fight like we can. Don’t worry, Rei-chan! Mako-chan would want you to be where it’s safe. And it’s like 626 said—we’ll be back before you know it.”

“Right,” Rei says, resigned.

“You can fill me in on some things,” Kasamatsu says, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder. “And I can tell you about the other kids who escaped the second Teiko.”

“Oh, that would be nice!” Rei says, brightening.

Nagisa frowns slightly before he masks it with cheer. Kise thinks the blonde boy probably doesn’t like the idea of Rei being too interested in the other kids like him, and Kise feels like he can relate to this guy. He remind Kise of a Yellow Six.

“Guys, Haruka-senpai is climbing out the window,” Gou says.

“Ack!” Nagisa says, retreating back inside. Kise sends Kasamatsu one last look, hoping to convey everything that would be too complicated to explain in words (I love you, I’ll come back to you, please stay safe, I’m sorry, I love you, I love you) before going back inside.

He has a merman to save.

*

From start to finish, this had been all Rei’s fault.

And he _knows_ that being kept out of the rescue mission is purely to keep him _safe,_ and not a punishment, but he feels so wretched about the whole thing that it ends up feeling a whole lot like a punishment anyway.

*

It had been his idea to come to Iwatobi. The others would have _never_ come so close to their home shore.

“No where near Japan”—that had been Haruka’s first rule. “We swim free, and we swim everywhere, but not Japan.”

Rei hadn’t expected they would agree when he first suggested the idea. He didn’t think they would ever come to Japan, much less Iwatobi, and maybe they wouldn’t have, if he hadn’t been the one to ask.

So when they heard Makoto scream across the ocean—when they heard his pain so loud through the Relay-bond it was like they had all been caught in that net with him—Rei’s first thought was, _This is all my fault._

Haruka had instantly sped off in the direction of Makoto’s cry. Haruka was the fastest out of all of them, there was no way they could ever catch up with him, not when he was determined.

< _Haru-chan, wait! >_ Nagisa had yelled through the diminishing Relay-bond. _< It’s better if we’re together!>_

But Haru was gone, which meant the rest of them would have to travel without the Relay. If it was just Rei and Nagisa, (Gou, they’d explained, couldn’t Relay—it was still considered a miracle that _Rei_ could) they wouldn’t be able to form the bond.

So they’d had to swim the normal way, and swim slowly. Rei, of course, being the slowest.

< _Go on without me, >_ he’d said. The Relay-bond was fractured now that it was just the two of them, so his words didn’t come out clearly, just his feelings _Leave me._ And Nagisa’s response was similar. Just his feelings, not a coherent sentence at all. _No. Stay together. Better. No-leave._

But Rei _was_ the slowest swimmer out of all of them, and if they had to swim at _his_ pace, then it was really no surprise that they didn’t make it in time to save Makoto.

Rei’s fault, entirely.

*

When they were on land, trying desperately to figure out where Makoto or Haru could be, Gou clung to his arm holding back, a grave expression on her face.

“Rei-kun, was this Nii-san’s idea?”

“Wh-what?” Rei yelped, not expecting the question.

“Coming to Iwatobi. It wasn’t like you to suggest it. I’ve been wondering for awhile if maybe you were talking to Nii-san.”

And Rei hadn’t been prepared for the question to be asked head on like that, so he just sort of floundered as he tried to think of a suitable response.

“Oh, _Rei-chan!”_ Nagisa cried, utterly dismayed, as he stopped walking. “This was _Rin-chan’s_ idea? _”_

“He just—he just said maybe it would be good for all of us to come,” Rei defended. “I thought he made some good points.”

“You should have said it was Rin-chan’s suggestion! We wouldn’t have come then!” Nagisa cried.

That’s more or less what Rin had said. “Don’t tell them it was my idea. They won’t come if I ask them to.”

Rei had thought that was absurd at the time. They all _loved_ Rin. Hadn’t last year proved that? They went through great lengths to save their former comrade; they clearly thought the world of him.

(Privately, in a way Rei could never admit to _anyone,_ Rei was sure they must wish Rin was still around. They must wish it was Rin with them, to complete their Relay, not Rei. But this was just his secret fear and anguish, and he hated that insecurity).

“I don’t see why it makes a difference,” Rei said, more defensively than he should have, considering it _was_ his fault they were in this mess. “It’s not like Rin-san would try to harm you in any way.” At the shared look between Gou and Nagisa, Rei faltered. “Right?”

“Not intentionally,” Nagisa said reluctantly. “He might not think of it as _harming_ us.”

“Nii-san can’t exactly be trusted when it comes to Samezuka, though,” Gou said quietly. “He never really saw Samezuka the same way we did. And…and he’s a little biased.”

“What’s _that_ mean?” Rei exclaimed.

But they never got the chance to explain, because they felt Haru’s distress through the Relay-bond, followed by Makoto’s fear. If they were feeling their emotions on land, that meant they had to be close, and near each other, so they’d all taken off running.

*

Now, they’re going to save Makoto, and they don’t want Rei with them, and it feels exactly like a punishment even if that’s not what the others are thinking.

The others are thinking that Rei doesn’t swim very well, even now, and he was never properly combat-trained. They’re thinking he would just be another person they’d have to look after in a fight, and that would just be distracting on a rescue mission.

And, OK, yes, fine, they’re also thinking about worst case scenarios. _They won’t hurt us._ Nagisa had explained a long time ago. _But you’re Teiko. And they really, really, really don’t like Teiko._

But they were taking the Yellow Six!

Well, of _course_ , they were taking the Yellow Six. And not just any Yellow Six, they were taking _the Miracle._ Rei couldn’t help but look at Kise Ryouta with a kind of hushed awe. The Successful Projects had been legendary. It was like standing next to a god.

So of course they were taking Kise Ryouta. Just like Rin, Kise was a much better person to have at their side.

Rei begins to feel depressed all over again.

“It sucks, doesn’t it?”

Rei startles out of his thoughts, because he’s forgotten entirely there was someone else with him.

The older boy has a stern countenance that would ordinarily make Rei nervous. It doesn’t help at all that both Nagisa and Haru had screamed < _Don’t trust him! Don’t trust him!_ > through the Relay.

It was Nagisa who said, < _You can be a spy, Rei-chan! But don’t trust him!_ > before they’d left together, which, Rei thinks, was probably just Nagisa trying to make him feel useful.

On land, the Relay-bond wasn’t as clear, and no one explained to him _why_ they all instantly distrusted Kasamatsu Yukio. He could only get faint impressions like, _find out what he knows,_ and _not-safe._ They’d relaxed, somewhat, when he introduced himself, and relaxed even further with it was clear he was with the Miracle ( _with_ the Miracle, according to Nagisa, who had said, “Oooh, they’re kissing!” when he was spying on them through the window).

Whatever it was they were afraid of, clearly if the stranger was making out with a Miracle, he probably wasn’t a threat.

But still. Even if it _was_ just to make him feel like he was useful, Rei thinks he might as well try and get information from this man. “Pardon?”

“Being left behind, ‘For your own good,’ probably, but it just really makes you feel shitty, doesn’t it?”

“ _Yes,_ it does!” Rei crows, instantly forgetting his earlier determination to spy on this man and feeling an immense wave of empathy. “I mean, I _know_ couldn’t help, I know I’d just be in the way, but—”

“It’s a little demoralizing how they don’t even try to pretend they know that too?” Kasamatsu offers.

“Exactly,” Rei says. “I mean, I _could_ help. I want to help. He’s my friend, too.”

“Kise always does this,” Kasamatsu says, sounding gruff and sad. “He always thinks he has to take care of everything by himself. And I’m not sure how many times I can just stand back and watch him rush off into danger.”

“He’s your—” Absurdly, Rei feels too embarrassed to say _lover_ or even _boyfriend_ , which should be the very last thing for him to even worry about right now.

“Yeah, we’re dating,” Kasamatsu says, and Rei admires the easy way he just _says_ that. He also feels a pang of envy, but he’d rather not think about that. “I think that’s why this is so frustrating. It was bad enough watching him be reckless when we were just friends. When he was just my kouhai, just someone I cared a lot about—I hated how he didn’t include me but I understood. Now, though.” He falls silent and Rei feels like it’s best if he doesn’t contribute.

“My parents were both military,” Kasamatsu explains idly; Rei suspects the older boy just needs someone to talk to and that it doesn’t matter that Rei is a stranger. “They were both on active duty, and what I remember about them is that they were always partners, in everything they did. That was the kind of relationship I always wanted.”

“It sounds nice,” Rei agrees, and then because maybe it _is_ easier to tell things to a stranger, he adds, “I wish I remembered my parents.”

It’s not something he feels like he could talk to the others about, because as far as he could tell they _never_ had parents, and it seems insensitive. Also, Nagisa gets upset anytime Rei mentions his past, for reasons he never fully understood. Perhaps, he thinks glumly, Nagisa didn’t like to be reminded that Rei _wasn’t_ like them.

“So you don’t remember your past,” Kasamatsu says softly, and he sounds so gentle it almost makes Rei want to cry. “Most of the kids the JSDF rescued from that place don’t have any memories of who they were.”

“I remembered my name,” Rei says proudly. “Eventually. I remembered ‘Rei.’” Nagisa had said that was proof Rei belonged with them. A girly sounding name for a guy. Makoto explained most of the Capricorn-line had girly sounding names, and that it was possible “Rei” had been an assigned name. But Rei didn’t think so; Teiko had only ever called him 934B.

“And I’m sure I had parents. Sometimes I think I remember them, but—” But he never did.

“Why didn’t you come to the JSDF?” Kasamatsu asks, his voice still gentle. “They would have taken you in, and they’ve been pretty good about tracking down families.”

“Oh,” Rei says. He hadn’t known _that_. He clears his throat. “I did think about it, when I first escaped. I saw the news clips, but they had already left for Japan by the time I started considering it. And at any rate, when I first escaped—” He thinks about the Order the caused him to run from the building when it seemed like it was under attack (when the JSDF soldiers had come to rescue them, he later learned); he’d been Ordered to _Run, Live,_ and it seemed like an order worth following. But he was scared all the time, and still very confused about what had happened to him, and it was all very hectic. “It seemed— _safer_ —to stay away from other people. It still does, to be honest. I’m not—I’m not sure how understanding they would be, about what I am now.”

Kasamatsu doesn’t immediately answer, he just mulls this over in a thoughtful way that Rei appreciates. “I’m not going to try and tell you that everyone _would_ be accepting of you,” he says. “But I think there are _enough_ people who would be understanding. It’s like the Miracles—not everyone understands what they are, and there are some people who are still scared of them, but people are generally accepting, over time. There’s even an all-male cheerleader group at my University that dyes their hair every once in awhile in support of the Miracles when they do their routines. On the whole, I think the good outweighs the bad, and it would be worth meeting new people. I could still introduce you to some of the soldiers on base who could help you track down your family.”

It _is_ tempting, more than he can say. There is a part of him that desperately wants to know where he came from. But he remembers that wanting to know that is the reason Makoto is in this terrible situation, and he instantly feels abashed. “It’s alright. I did want to know who my family was, originally, but then I met the others, so,” he shrugs. “I didn’t need to anymore.”

Kasamatsu mulls this over, glancing speculatively at Rei while they walk. “So, that blonde kid—Nagisa? He said you don’t usually go near land all that often?”

“They prefer to stay in the ocean,” Rei says nervously. They had said _don’t trust him_ so it feels like probably he shouldn’t be talking about this.

“All the time? You don’t need to come up for air?”

“No,” Rei says. On the _other_ hand, if he _is_ spying on Kasamatsu, it would be easier to get him to talk if he thought Rei trusted him. “We need water. We all have a different water-land ration, though. I can be on land for almost a week without water,” Rei brags slightly, but only because the others aren’t around to hear him. They might not necessarily think it’s a brag, though. “Haruka-senpai’s is pretty high, though. He can only go about four hours on land before he has to be in the water.”

“What about the guy who got kidnapped? Makoto?” Kasamatsu asks urgently.

“About three days,” Rei says.

“Three days,” Kasamatsu repeats, sounding grave. “That’s not a lot of time.” He shakes his head, as if banishing thoughts away. “They’ll get him back before then, so don’t worry.”

“Worry?” Rei repeats, frowning. “I mean, I _am_ worried, in general, but I’m not sure I follow…” the logic finally clicks into place. “They wouldn’t _keep him_ from the _water._ That would kill him!”

“Right,” Kasamatsu says, also frowning. “Isn’t that what they do?”

“ _What?!”_ Rei yelps. “No, no, of course not—or, at least, I’m sure that’s not what the others are thinking, they would have said. And anyway, Samezuka and Archer spent all this time chasing them down, why would they _kill_ them?”

“Samezuka didn’t kill their Projects?”

“ _No,_ ” Rei says, horrified at the very thought. “I’ll grant you, I wasn’t there, but the others would have told me. It sounded a lot like my experience with Teiko, really. Brainwashing and combat training and all that.”

“Oh,” Kasamatsu says. “That wasn’t… Kise’s experience. With the first Teiko, I mean.”

He doesn’t continue, but considering the topic of the situation, Rei doesn’t exactly need him to elaborate.

And really, maybe he _shouldn’t_ be so surprised. He knew all of the Generations were gone—the scientists constantly bemoaned their loss. He always assumed it must have been an accident. The scientists were _so_ desperate after their loss—surely they wouldn’t have…

“Sorry,” Kasamatsu says. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I guess I’m glad Samezuka was different than Teiko. I guess I don’t need to worry about Kise, if that’s the case.”

_They won’t hurt us. But they really, really, really don’t like Teiko._

“Right,” Rei says weakly, and feels like a terrible person.

*

“So… we’re going to your cousin’s?” Rei asks, starting to wonder finally about their destination.

“Yeah, Sousuke. His dad died recently, so I was visiting. I don’t know, it seems pretty dumb to try and visit him _now,_ considering everything that’s happening. And he doesn’t want to see me, so…”

That seemed a lot more complicated than they could go into now. Rei knows the only reason Nagisa sent him with the Miracle’s boyfriend is because he didn’t want Rei to be on his own—not in Iwatobi.

But he doesn’t necessarily _have_ to be on his own. There’s someone he can call, and despite what the others said, Rei really thinks it’s time _someone_ told Rin what was going on. Surely Rin would want to know that something had happened to Makoto. _And_ he would help, especially after what happened in Australia, and then the others would have a full Relay and they could all escape that much easier…

“I’m sure you would much rather talk to your cousin on your own,” Rei says, “It would only be awkward if I’m there.”

Kasamatsu frowns. “No, I think it’s better if we stick together.”

Rei would be more inclined to accept the wisdom in that if he didn’t get the distinct impression that Kasamatsu wanted to stick together for _Rei’s_ sake. Which was just insulting, really; Rei wasn’t as strong as the others but he was still stronger than the average human!

And anyway, he just found a payphone (Iwatobi, apparently, being one of the rare cities that still _had_ payphones) and he would really much rather talk to Rin with the other boy not around. Rin was too complicated a story to explain to anyone, and more to the point, Rin got very twitchy around strangers.

“I’ll just hang back here for a little bit. You should at least explain my presence to your cousin first.”

Kasamatsu makes a face. “Fine, I see your point. Although, explaining you would have been a lot easier if Sousuke hadn’t already seen me with Kise. I’m not sure he’ll believe I brought _two_ random classmates with me to my estranged uncle’s funeral.”

Rei watches as Kasamatsu approaches his cousin’s house, and then moves towards the payphone. He hopes Rin will answer—he doesn’t always.

As he dials he mulls over the name “Sousuke.” It seems familiar, for some reason, but he can’t place why. It’s a phenomenon that happened fairly often, considering almost all his memories have been erased since before last year, but still. He can’t help but feel like he heard the name _Sousuke_ more recently.

*

All around, this seems like an incredibly stupid idea, and Kasamatsu thinks that he really _should_ have called his dad. Or hell, Akashi Seijuurou. Kyoto wasn’t _that_ far from Iwatobi, and the boy had access to private jets.

After, Kasamatsu decides. He’ll check in on Sousuke, try one last time to reach out, but the he’s going to call in reinforcements.

(The _only_ reason he hasn’t yet is because there is a genuine possibility calling reinforcements might makes the situation worse. They’re not dealing with Teiko, a place that slaughtered children and committed other atrocities. Akashi _and_ the JSDF might not wait to find out what kind of place Samezuka is before kicking down doors in a very public fashion).

And besides, he _did_ come here for Sousuke, originally. While he is very worried about Kise, he doesn’t want to forget about the fact that someone he cares about just lost a parent.

After he knocks on the door, he thinks about the last time they’d been here. He and Sousuke had spent the day playing in the beach. It had been a really happy memory, up until their fathers started fighting…

“Yukio,” Sousuke says when he opens the door, sounding tense and angry. “I told you—”

“I know, I know,” Kasamatsu says. “Look, I’m not going to force my company on you if you really don’t want me here, I just want you to know that I _am_ here for you. I know how hard it is to lose a parent, and you’re family, so I just want you to know that whatever it is you need, I’m here, and I’m willing to do it. I just—want you to know you’re not alone.”

He stops talking because he realizes he’s close to babbling and also that he’s repeating himself. Maybe it’s a dumb offer—Sousuke probably has a whole bunch of friends and family, he probably doesn’t need Kasamatsu.

“Sousuke, who is this?”

Kasamatsu tenses at the sound of the man’s voice because he wasn’t expecting anyone to be around. Sousuke tenses too, stiff and soldier-like. He opens the door wider so that Kasamatsu can now see into the house, and more importantly, so the man inside can see Kasamatsu.

The two stare at each other, both taking in the sight of one another, both coming to the same inevitable conclusion.

“You must be one of Youji’s kids,” the man says, and it’s absolutely impossible to read anything in that voice.

“And you must be my uncle,” Kasamatsu says, using polite honorifics as was only proper, but overall, he’s very distressed by this turn of events.

“Yamazaki Kenji,” the man replies with an unnecessary introduction. As with Seiji, he looks like an older version of Youji. Same thick eyebrows, same jawline, same nose (only his is slightly hitched, like it had been broken). He has dark brown eyes, like Youji, but unlike Kasamatsu’s father, this man’s eyes have a hardness about them, colder and more calculated than Youji’s. His hair has more gray in it, but he looks incredibly fit for a man his age, like someone who still works out.

Seeing him now, Kasamatsu remembers that no matter how much Youji would rant about Seiji, Sousuke’s father, and no matter what kind of terrible names he’d call Seiji, he would always conclude with, “But he wasn’t as evil as Kenji.”

Kenji looks at him speculatively and continues his introduction with, “But you can call me Archer.”


	3. Chapter 3

Makoto wakes up in the water of Samezuka.

He knows without even opening his eyes that he must be back here. The clean, filtered water of the Samezuka facility is unmistakable.

It was Nagisa who had said it first—“The water of Samezuka was so stale!”—and the impression stuck. Even Makoto couldn’t explain it better, but all the water out in the world felt sweeter in comparison—felt _alive._ He always felt like everything just seemed brighter outside Samezuka. He could think more clearly. He feels sort of sluggish and subdued and he knows it must be the water.

He doesn’t want to open his eyes because he knows what he’s going to see: the stark halls of Samezuka. There’s a part of him that feels like maybe if he just keeps his eyes closed, this will remain a horrible nightmare, and not his reality.

But he must open his eyes at some point, if only to see just how bad it is. When he does, he finds that he’s surprised after all: they’ve put him in the Nursery, and not some holding cell like he expected.

The small crowd of children who were venturing close enough to touch all scatter when he opens his eyes. With a _plop plip plop_ they dive back into the pool, swimming to the far reaches away from him.

“Wait!” Makoto calls. “I won’t hurt you—”

One boy, not in the water, looks more frightened than the ones who swam away. He looks like he wants to dive in the water to escape, but that thought terrifies him too much. The poor child looks positively sick with fear. Makoto pulls himself out of the water, shifting back to his human form, but he doesn’t get closer to the child.

“I promise, I’m harmless,” Makoto smiles, holding out his hands. “I would never, ever hurt you.”

The boy runs then—straight into someone who has just appeared in the doorway. The newcomer goes “oomph” as the boy runs into his legs and hides behind him.

“It’s not because you’re scary, it’s because you’re diseased,” the young man says in a teasing tone. “You’ve been out there in the polluted wild—God knows what you’ve picked up.”

Makoto can’t keep himself from staring. “ _Kisumi?”_

The pink-haired man laughs, “So you _do_ remember—I thought for sure you’d have forgotten all about us.”

“No, I—we always remembered,” Makoto stammers. It would be impossible to explain that he’d thought about those left behind every day; that if he had been a braver, stronger man, he would have returned to free them all.

It would be impossible to say that because he _wasn’t_ brave or strong. He’d never mentioned this desire to save the others because they wouldn’t have liked it. ( _Haru_ wouldn’t have liked it. Haru never wanted to come back to Iwatobi. Haru always said if anyone got caught by Samezuka then they were on their own; there’d be no rescues. Best not think about that too much).

“Hayato, this is an old friend of mine; you should say, ‘hello.’ Makoto, this is my little brother, Hayato.”

“You have a little brother now?” Makoto says with genuine delight, and a little envy. _He’d_ always wanted younger siblings; he loved children. (Siblings were common enough in Samezuka, even if no one was ever fully sure where those siblings came from. The Capricorn-line children just sort of appeared, and were subsequently told if someone new to the Nursery was a sibling. Makoto always thought it a bit strange, given the fact that they didn’t have parents, but he never thought much about it beyond his own desire for siblings. It was the first thing he’d ever envied Rin for—the fact that he had a little sister. It wasn’t the last thing he’d ever been jealous of Rin for, but best not think about that either).

“Hello,” Makoto addresses the still-hiding child. Hayato continues to bury his face in the back of Kisumi’s legs. The smaller boy is clearly not comfortable with the way Makoto approaches the two of them.

“He’s Capricorn-line,” Makoto exclaims, noticing the gills at the boy’s side. Nagisa and Gou used to have a hard time hiding their gills when they were younger.

“Funny, isn’t it? It’s like it’s my fate to be surrounded by water-dwellers.” It had always been strange to have Kisumi in the Nursery with the rest of them, considering he _wasn’t_ Capricorn-line. The only other Sagittarius-line child who had ever been in Samezuka was Yamazaki Sousuke. Looking at the man now, Makoto wonders why it never occurred to him before to wonder where Sagittarius-line children usually grew up before they were Initiated. As an adult looking back, he has a pretty good idea why Sousuke was an exception, but he wonders now why Kisumi was. Now isn’t really the time to ask those questions, but Makoto files them away to think on later. Kisumi claps Makoto on the arm and smiles, “It’s good to have you back.”

A slow, nauseous uneasiness spreads in Makoto’s gut. “I didn’t exactly return by choice.” He keeps his voice light, careful.

“I know, but you’ll be glad soon enough. This is _home,_ Makoto. I still can’t believe you were out there in the disgusting, polluted waters! I wouldn’t have thought _you_ capable of being so savage.”

“It wasn’t—it wasn’t _all_ polluted,” Makoto thinks about the water near the island they found Rei. It had been so warm and beautiful, and everything was so clear and bright; Makoto hadn’t thought such a place could exist on earth, and he had never wanted to leave.

Kisumi dramatically shudders. “Poor Makoto. You’ve been gone way too long. You’re safe now.”

“Archer—” Makoto starts and stops. Archer hunted us, he wants to say. He shot at us, he hurt us when he had the chance. The only reason we were ever in danger is because of him.

“He’d be here, but some family trouble came up. You heard about the Capricorn Elder, right?”

“No?”

“Oh. He’s dead now.”

“ _No,_ ” Makoto gasps. He didn’t have much fondness for the man who had been in charge of the Capricorn-line, and frankly, the only real association he had of the man was that he was Sousuke’s father.

He hadn’t thought about Sousuke in a long time, and now he’s thought about him twice in the space of a few seconds. Makoto supposes Sousuke must be around here somewhere too.

“Killed in America,” Kisumi says, sounding more cheerful than he should, considering the topic. “We’ve been having trouble at the branch facility there and a rival corporation. Really, Makoto, you came back at _such_ a good time. Don’t worry, you’ll forget all about the outside soon enough.”

_That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,_ Makoto thinks.

*

This wasn’t the first time Archer had caught up with them. A couple of years ago, Nagisa had been captured near one of the Chinese coasts.

It had been different then for a number of reasons—there wasn’t a Chinese branch facility nearby, so Nagisa had still been in transit after they rescued him. (It was after that Haru had said _no coasts_ and they’d steered clear of land ever since. The only time they’d made exceptions was when they found Rei, and now).

But Nagisa had been bound and caged, kept from bodies of water. (He said later that Archer had sprayed water on him, just enough to keep him alive, but weak).

Makoto can’t help but think it’s worrisome that Archer hasn’t done the same thing _now._ The fact that Makoto isn’t chained; that he’s near water, that the first face he saw was a friendly one—all of these things _should_ be reassuring but instead he’s terrified because of how unsettling it all is.

“Come on, I’ll show you around,” Kisumi offered. “It’ll be just like old times.”

And now they were wandering around, uninhibited, as if Makoto was just a visitor.

“Over here is where the new Initiates sleep—the Ceremony took place a few months back, so we have a bunch of new Sagittarius-line. They’re kind of a funny bunch this year. Oh! I bet you want to see some of your own line, right?”       

“Maybe later,” Makoto says, still processing what’s happening. There are Sagittarius-line everywhere—not watching, per se, but armed and on the alert, like they always were. He still can’t believe they’re letting him walk around like this.

“Oi! Asahi! Ikuya! You’ll never guess who’s back!” Kisumi waves exuberantly, and Makoto startles at the names.

“No way, _Makoto?_ ”

Makoto, tense and unhappy, still manages a tentative smile at his one-time friends. “Hi, Asahi. Hi, Ikuya.”

“I heard you were out _there,_ ” Asahi says, bounding over to him. “In the dirty waters.”

“The water wasn’t dirty,” Makoto protests.

“Stay away, idiot,” Ikuya says gruffly, jerking his friend back. “He’s probably _diseased._ ”

The glare Ikuya sends is openly hostile—an undercurrent of anger that Makoto was expecting but it still stings all the same.

“You should have just stayed away, no one wants you here.”

Ikuya jerks Asahi away before Makoto can respond, storming away.

A long time ago, they’d formed a Relay together. Makoto, Haruka, Ikuya, Asahi. And once you form a Relay with someone, that bond never fully goes away. Makoto can feel Ikuya as anger prickles against his skin; the barest twinge of emotions still coming through. Not coherently, just faint whispers of _traitor, disgusting, hate, traitor, traitor, traitor—_

“Tsk. Ikuya always has to be so stubborn,” Kisumi says, shaking his head sadly. “Don’t worry, Makoto, you know him. He’ll be over it soon enough.

_Does_ he know him? Makoto thought about the two men he’d seen. With the well-trained muscled bodies of soldiers and the hardened eyes that come with age, they aren’t really the same boys he’d known and swam with, once upon a time.

“Kisumi, what are you doing?”

“Showing you around?” Kisumi says, confused by Makoto’s question.

“But _why?_ You know—you know I ran away, that I’ll do it again if I can—”

“You didn’t know any better,” Kisumi breaks in gently. “You were real young, Makoto, you guys hadn’t even been properly Initiated yet. But we’re your family. You’ll understand soon enough that you’re better here.”

*

Kisumi sticks with him the entire time, even through dinner, and when night descends he puts Makoto in the bunkers like they’d had when they were younger.

“Sorry, Makoto, we _should_ be putting you with the other Capricorn-line, but they pretty much all think you must be diseased because of how you were outside—”

“I’m not!” Makoto protests feebly.

“—Which is why we stuck you in the Nursery to begin with, but the kiddos were scared of you, too,” Kisumi says, barely pausing to breath throughout his explanation. “So you can have this bunk for now, in the Sagittarius ward.”

“Someone here’s already,” Makoto says, looking around. There’s nothing that screams domesticity—no personal touches that suggests a person is living here.  (But when has Samezuka ever had those personal touches?). However there are some lived-in signs: a laptop on the desk, drawers with clothes, a neat bed on one side that still has the imprint of someone having slept there.

“You don’t think you warrant your own room, do you?” Kisumi says, amused. “Everyone gets a roommate, remember?”

“Yes, I do remember,” Makoto says, feeling a little lost. Or maybe “lost” isn’t the right word at all. It’s like they’re slotting him right back into the routine of Samezuka, like he’d never left at all, like all those years he spent swimming free had just been a peaceful dream and he’s awake once more. He’s not lost, he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.

“Poor Makoto,” Kisumi says, like he’d been saying all along. “It’ll get better, I promise.” Kisumi places a reassuring hand on Makoto’s arm; it’s a comforting touch, and right now Makoto feels the desperate need for comfort. He’d want to lean into that touch except for the way Kisumi’s hand lingers, almost like an invitation. This startles Makoto so badly he has to move away almost on instinct.

Kisumi just smiles and lets out a short laugh. “You _will_ feel better soon, Makoto. Good night!”

Kisumi exits and the door clicks behind him. Makoto reaches for the handle, only to find it isn’t there. _That’s right,_ he remembers, _the doors always locked at night._

There’s a tiny window at the very top of the wall. Too small to stick his head through, (even if he could have reached it) much less fit his entire body out to escape (even if he could have opened it. The glass was always thick in Samezuka).

The window is just large enough to let moonlight in, and somehow the evidence of an outside world just depresses Makoto further.

He curls up on the bed to the right—the one that doesn’t look slept in. _This must be my punishment,_ he thinks. _Because I wanted more._

_I should have never wanted more. What I had was already all I could have dared to want._

*

He doesn’t sleep, so he doesn’t dream. Instead, he spends the night lost in memories that already feel so faint it’s like they happened in a completely different life.

*

Makoto and Gou had always wanted to swim in the Hawaiian waters, but Haru had said it was too dangerous; there were always people in warm waters.

But after news about the second Teiko broke, Nagisa had begged and begged and even Haru had to relent.

(It was like Nagisa had _known,_ even then, what he would find there. And maybe he did; maybe that’s why he had been so restless up until the moment when he found Rei, and was finally at peace. Nagisa had always been oddly perceptive at times).

“He has a girly-sounding name too!” Nagisa crowed. “He’s one of _us._ ”

The fact that they could all Relay again was proof enough that Rei _did_ belong with them. Even Haru didn’t grumble at the new addition—and that was so telling, considering just how much Haru hated change—and Makoto thought maybe they could finally relax. The island the second Teiko owned wasn’t part of any nation, and after the JSDF left there wasn’t much fear of people, like there would be otherwise.

“Maybe we could stay here,” Makoto said to Haru one night, while the others were swimming. (Rei, absurdly, _didn’t know how to swim,_ so the others were teaching him. Makoto understood that Rei wasn’t born to the water like they were, but why would the scientists modify a human if he didn’t even know how to swim? It seemed cruel; a cruelty on top of all the other pain already inflicted on the boy).

He offered his suggestion to Haru knowing what the answer would be. Makoto and Haru knew everything about each other; they’d Relayed so much they could actually read each others’ thoughts even without the Relay bond.

Most days, Haru didn’t respond out loud if he was with Makoto; Haru didn’t like using words if he didn’t have to. So Makoto’s question was met with silence, although he could hear the answer all the same: _Archer will find us if we stay in one place._

“But surely he wouldn’t think to look for us here,” Makoto answers out loud, because he liked to converse with Haru, even if Haru didn’t talk back. “You know how they felt about Teiko. Surely, it wouldn’t occur to him that we’d be here.”

_Samezuka breeds soldiers; Teiko made gods._

Both Archer and his brother liked to say that; it summed up everything they thought was despicable about Teiko. In Samezuka, you were _born_ ; you had a lineage, a family. There was a lot of pride in being a soldier.

But Teiko _made_ their Projects, and were punished for their hubris.

Haruka just shook his head—he could follow Makoto’s train of thought easily enough. _He’ll still find us. He always does._

_As long as we keep swimming, we swim free._

Haruka was happiest in the water. And that’s mostly worked so far, but Makoto for once is thinking about the future—now that they have Rei, now that they can Relay again. Surely they can’t keep running forever.

“Haru—”

Haru grabbed Makoto by the wrist, the movement sudden and unexpected. It completely derailed Makoto’s thoughts for a second, and all he could do was stare at Haru, lost under the intensity of Haru’s gaze.

Makoto knew Haru so well he could read his mind. And in that moment, Haru was thinking about kissing Makoto. Makoto could hear the thought so clearly it was like he’d already been kissed: his eyes widened in surprise, his heart sped up, and in that moment of phantom kisses all Makoto could think about was _yes, yes._

And then they _were_ kissing: for the life of him Makoto couldn’t pinpoint when the thoughts of the kiss changed to the action itself, but they were kissing, and Makoto wasn’t thinking about anything at all.

*

Makoto turns in the bed, hugging his pillow to his chest, and faces the wall. The moonlight depresses him more than his captivity.

He should try to escape. That’s what Haru would do. Or even Nagisa. Once Nagisa set his mind to something, he would stubbornly carry it out, no matter what anyone else said.

Makoto always got his strength from being with the others.

That must be why he’s being punished now—for wanting to leave them.

*

It was only after everything with Rin happened that Makoto started thinking about it. At first it was just a passing thought, _wouldn’t it be nice…_ and he banished the thought almost immediately before it could even fully form in his mind.

But like all thoughts he’d rather not have, this one was insidious. Once it nagged at the back of his mind it wouldn’t go away until he fully thought about it and considered his options.

He expected Haru to find out right away. If Haru was paying attention to Makoto’s thoughts, he would catch the stray idea before it had a chance to fully form, and he would tell Makoto all the reasons why he was wrong.

But Haru _didn’t_ stop him—and that wasn’t surprising, they were very respectful of each other’s thoughts, it’s not like they pried on purpose.

Without Haru stopping him from mulling over the thought, it finally became this fully formed thing that took over Makoto completely.

Until Makoto had to say, “Haru, I think we should live on land for awhile.”

Haruka, predictably, did not react well. He didn’t rail and shout like others might, just got really quiet as Makoto read all the anger in his thoughts, loud and clear.

“I think it would be good for us,” Makoto continued. “It’s not good for us to be so isolated from the world. We could go to the school, start new lives. We don’t always have to hide in the sea.”

Even Haruka couldn’t remain quiet for long. He just said flatly, “I am never leaving the water.”

And Makoto knew Haru was going to say that, of course he did: he knew Haru was going to draw his line in the sand. So Makoto had to draw his. “Then I’ll go alone. Haru, I’ve thought a lot about this a lot. I want to go to college. I’ve already looked into possibilities—”

It also wasn’t a surprise when Haruka swam away. Makoto let him go. It’s not like he could have caught up with Haru anyway, not in the water. So Makoto let Haru swim away, and aimlessly drifted in the opposite direction, figuring he’d let Haru process everything and then maybe they could talk it over rationally.

Except he never got the chance.

He got tangled in the fisherman’s net, and now he is here.

*

Makoto sniffles into his pillow, trying not to outright sob. If he cries now, that would be a little _too_ pathetic. It would be like admitting all hope was lost, without ever trying to get out of this situation.

But he misses Haru. He misses all of them, but _Haru._ He’s never been away from Haru, never. Had he _really_ thought they could manage the distance between land and water while he tried to live a normal life? He must have been delusional to even contemplate the thought.

The door to his room swings open, startling Makoto and causing him to drop the pillow as he flails to an upright position on the bed. Fear grips him for a brief, anxious second as he sees the outline of a Sagittarius-line soldier. He’s sure it must be Archer, finally here to kill him.

When he gets a clear look he realizes he wasn’t completely wrong—it just wasn’t the Yamazaki he was expecting.

“Sousuke-kun?” he yelps.

Sousuke looks briefly taken aback for about three seconds before relaxing, “Oh, right. They told me they were putting you in my room. Hey, Makoto.”

“Sorry, Yamazaki-kun,” Makoto corrects, realizing he couldn’t exactly claim the right to familiarity.

“You might as well call me Sousuke,” the Sagittarius-line says, removing his jacket. “Are you going to try to kill me in my sleep to escape?”

“N-no! Of course not!” Makoto exclaims, horrified at the thought.

“Good. I’m not up for sleeping with one eye open tonight.”  Sousuke stretches out on the opposite bed—the one closest to the exit, and closes his eyes without further ado.

Makoto waits for a minute and then tentatively says, “I’m sorry about your father, Sousuke-kun.”

They hadn’t ever really been friends when they were younger. Sousuke had an improbable friendship with Rin, and since Rin was Makoto’s friend, that brought them into proximity to one another. The only clear memories Makoto has of the other man is that Sousuke and Haru had never gotten along with each other.

Makoto reminds himself that Sousuke is the enemy now. Whatever they were in the past, Sousuke is a Yamazaki. Not just that, he’s most likely the next Capricorn Elder.

“Thanks,” Sousuke says shortly.

They don’t say anything else for the rest of the night, and when Makoto wakes up the next morning, Sousuke is already gone.

*

Kisumi picks him up in the morning; Makoto starts to realize what should have been obvious right away—that Kisumi must have the trust of the higher-ups, which probably means he wasn’t on Makoto’s side. This realization makes him more depressed than he would have thought possible. Kisumi is the only one who has been kind to him here; it’s too sad to think he can’t be trusted.

“Still down? Don’t be so glum, Makoto,” Kisumi places a reassuring arm around Makoto’s shoulder. “Come on, I think it’s time you should meet with the other Capricorn-line.”

“That didn’t go so well last time,” Makoto says, still feeling depressed. But he tries his best to smile and keep up a good appearance. “Thanks for being so nice, Kisumi.”

“What are friends for?” Kisumi says cheerily.

*

“So you _are_ back. I didn’t think the monkey had it right. Good to see you, Makoto.”

“Oh! Yes, you too,” Makoto says, still flustered at the sight of Natsuya.

Kisumi had dropped him off at the Capricorn-line ward with little introduction and exited quickly to do some mysterious thing.

“It is good to see you again, Makoto-kun,” Nao says, and he smiles gently, making Makoto think he probably meant it. Makoto and the others always considered these two as their “senpai” in the Capricorn-line. It is strange to see them now as adults, with the hardened demeanors of soldiers. “Are the others with you too?”

“N-no! We separated, a long time ago. I haven’t seen them in forever.” He stops when Natsuya gives him a sardonic look of disbelief. Makoto had never been particularly good at lying, and it was a rather transparent lie he was telling now.

“Have you talked to Archer yet?” Natsuya asks, choosing not to call Makoto out on his obvious lie.

Makoto deflates. “No.”

“You will. You’re going to have to be put into a unit soon. Not to mention re-trained in combat—I imagine you’ve forgotten almost everything you learned here when you were out in the wild.”

_I tried to,_ Makoto thinks, but it’s not something he would ever be brave enough to say out loud. The rather familiar depression starts to resurface. This is his life now. Training, combat. This is what he has to look forward to: a life of killing, a life where he is just a tool.

“Come on, soldier,” Natsuya says, clapping Makoto on the back. “Let’s see what you still remember.”

*

“You should have stayed away.”

Makoto looks up from his collapsed position on the floor to see Ikuya glaring down at him. He’s too dumbfounded to really reply; it’s not like he came back _willingly._

“Or you should have never left. Did you ever once think what it was like for the rest of us after you escaped? Do you think we had it bad when we were _ten?_ ”

Makoto grimaces—he _had_ thought about them. “Ikuya, I—”

“Save it.” Ikuya storms away.

Makoto gets up but groans and halts. His sparring session had largely proved that he _was_ woefully out of practice with combat training, and now all his muscles are sore.

“Sorry, Makoto,” Asahi says, coming up from behind. “Ikuya will get over it eventually.”

“It’s OK. He has the right to be mad,” Makoto says quickly.

“What _was_ it like out there?” Asahi asks. “Is it polluted, like they say?”

“Parts of it,” Makoto admits. “But mostly…it was really nice.”

Asahi looks like he wants to ask more questions, but he isn’t sure how. He doesn’t get the chance, as the cheerful interruption of Kisumi calling for Makoto disrupts their conversation.

“Guess I better go,” Makoto says, apologetically.

Asahi’s eyes dart back and forth between Makoto and Kisumi. “You probably shouldn’t trust him,” he says, so quickly Makoto thinks he must have misheard.

“Kisumi? Why?”

“He’s Libra-line,” Asahi says, and then darts after Ikuya before Kisumi can reach them.

*

“Did you have fun?”

It takes Makoto a few seconds just to process the question, he’s still reeling from the revelation that Kisumi is Libra-line.

He had always known _about_ the other Legacy-lines, but he’s never met any that weren’t Sagittarius or Capricorn. And it was strange to think that someone he had grown up with could turn out to be a Libra-line. (And _how,_ Makoto thinks, does a Libra-line have a Capricorn-line little brother? He wishes he understood a little bit where the children came from. They must have been made, like Teiko, but he wish he _knew_ ).

“Oh, I—it was nice to see everyone again,” Makoto replies, realizing that it’s been awhile since Kisumi asked the question and he’s probably wondering why Makoto hasn’t answered. Makoto winces at his own response—lying has never been his first instinct, so he can’t say _yes,_ but he doesn’t like being rude either, so he can’t say _no._

“I’m glad,” Kisumi says. “Are you ready to see Archer?”

Makoto does a poor job of hiding his shudder.

Libra-lines, if he recalls right, could influence your emotions. He decides right then and there that Asahi must be wrong—Kisumi _can_ be trusted. Because if he wanted Makoto to feel better about being here (as he’s been saying, again and again, that Makoto should), then he hasn’t been _doing_ anything to _make_ Makoto feel better because Makoto still very much feels awful.

“Ready as you’ll ever be,” Kisumi says, understanding.

“Yeah,” Makoto says, resigned. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

*

It is very strange to sit across from Archer, as if he was a disobedient school child faced with a disapproving teacher.

In a way, the analogy isn’t inaccurate. Archer _was_ their teacher. He’d always been very involved with training, even more so than his brother, the Capricorn.

“Makoto-kun. I am very disappointed in you.”

“I—I didn’t want to kill,” Makoto says, in a pleading sort of way, as if it were possible to make this man understand.

“I know. You always were a strange one. Most of the other Orca-type have the opposite problem: too bloodthirsty. But Makoto-kun, we are your family. And you don’t turn your back on family.”

What’s really sick is that a small part of him actually feels guilty when Archer says that, although the much larger part of him wants to say: No, you’re not. My family is Haru. My family is Nagisa, Rei, and Gou.

But the part of him that is desperate to please others and make them happy wins out and he says, “I’m sorry.”

“Will the others come for you?”

Makoto doesn’t fully understand what Archer is asking only because it is such a strange thing for Archer to ask.

“No,” Makoto answers truthfully. “We agreed—we always said we wouldn’t.”

_Why_ would Archer ask that? Is this why Makoto hasn’t been looked up and punished yet? He wants Makoto as bait for the others? (But _why?_ Whywhywhy. That had always been the question that haunted all of them. Why wouldn’t Archer leave them alone? Why did he hunt them all over the world? Why not shoot to kill when he had the chance?)

“And is that what you would have done?” Archer raises a brow. “If it had been one of the others? If it was Haruka-kun sitting where you are, and you out in the ocean—would you leave him be?”

Makoto shrinks in his seat. Not for the first time, he wishes he was short and small and unnoticeable.

Archer just smiles. He doesn’t need Makoto to answer: he knows the answer. Makoto would not have left Haruka here, if their situations were reversed.

“Family is very important, Makoto-kun,” Archer says. “I’ve lost both my brothers. Trust me when I say there is nothing more important to me than family, even when your family disappoints you, or behaves badly, or makes mistakes.

“You’ll understand that soon enough, Makoto. You’re here with your family. And soon enough, you’ll all be home, where you belong.”

_< Haru,>_ Makoto tries to call in the Relay-bond. If the others _are_ nearby, they might be able to hear him. _< Haru, stay away. Don’t come for me. Keep swimming free.>_

*

After about the sixth time the others have to stop and stare at each other silently, Kise gets a little fed up with all of them.

“Look, just talk out loud, will you? I’m here to _help,_ but I can’t do that if you keep making decisions without me.”

The others look at him in surprise. “You knew?” Nagisa cries.

“That you can speak telepathically with one another? Yeah, I’ve seen it before. It’s suuuuuper annoying.”

The Gold Ones could speak telepathically with each other, and Kise had never been particularly fond of the Golds. The only Gold he’d ever liked had been the Miracle Gold; the rest he distrusted on principle.

“Makoto,” Haru says, in that angry, stilted way of his, “Makoto wants us to stay away.”

“Oh, well then, let’s just pack up and leave then!” Kise says, throwing his hands up in the air.

They’d spent the night arguing through the best approach to getting their friend out of the facility. Kise lobbied for Copying a guard and walking straight in—it had more or less worked that way, when Akashi had been abducted by the second Teiko (with backup provided by the other Miracles and the JSDF).

But that plan had the slight hiccup of—none of the guards came _out_ of Samezuka. Kise couldn’t Copy someone he hadn’t seen in person, so if no one came out, there was no one to Copy.

It took the combined efforts of Nagisa and Gou to keep Haru from barging straight into the facility. Kise was beginning to understand that the man was very single-minded with his approach, and simple logic like, “If you walk straight in you’ll just be captured too” didn’t quite compute.

“We’re not going to quit,” Haru growls.

Even though Kise had spoken sarcastically, he’s actually supremely tempted to leave them to their own devices. They didn’t have _any_ idea how to actually go about breaking into the facility. When Kise finally cried, “Well, how did you break out the _first_ time?!” they all just looked at each other and shrugged.

“They used to let us swim in the ocean,” Nagisa said nonchalantly. “So one day we just kept swimming. By the time they realized we were escaping they couldn’t catch up.”

Kise had to stare at them, slack-jawed for a full minute. There were layers to how incredulous, frustrated, and jealous he was by that news. Even allowing that the escape was _probably_ more complicated than Nagisa made it sound, it was still nothing like their own escape from Teiko had been.

Their own escape had only been possible because of Kuroko and Momoi. Kuroko, who had spent _years_ plotting. They’d had mindreaders and cameras to get around; and trackers and self-destruct devices embedded in their bodies. Escape shouldn’t have even been possible, except for the fact that everyone underestimated Kuroko.

Trying to plot a rescue now only makes Kise appreciate Kuroko’s deep planning even more. He also can’t help but wish the other Miracles were here. Whatever else could be said for their upbringing, Kise will allow that Teiko made sure they _could_ take on anything, when they worked as a group.

“Wait,” he says, a thought occurring to him, “You can speak telepathically to the guy inside the facility?”

“Not from here,” Gou says. “We only get impressions from here.”

“But. You. Can. Speak. To. Him.” Kise feels like banging his head against a wall.

“If we were closer,” Nagisa allows.

“Then why didn’t you mention that sooner?!” Kise yells. “We can coordinate a rescue _directly_. You literally have a man on the inside! We can strategize!”

“We—ell,” Nagisa says, as the others suddenly find other places to look. “Yes, but, if we get too close, we’ll be seen, pretty quick.”

“But it’s still _possible_ to—oh, for the love of—you people are useless. I’m beginning to think I should just grab Kasamatsu-senpai and leave.”

There’s another _look_ between the three of them, and Kise is so done with this. “And _that!_ What’s that about? Don’t try to look innocent _now_ , you all act _weird_ around Senpai. Why? Is it because he’s human?”

“Of course not,” Gou says, but then falls silent, looking sheepish.

“Then _what?_ ” Kise demands.

Unexpectedly, Haru is the one to answer. “It’s because he looks like a Yamazaki.”

All of Kise’s frustration and irritation abruptly exits, as if he’d just had a bucket of ice dumped over his head and now all he can think about is the cold. “What—what does that mean?”

“Well, he _does_ look like a Yamazaki,” Nagisa says, defensively. “He has the same eyebrows and chin and face, and really, he just looks a lot like Archer, so you can’t blame us for thinking—”

“What about Archer?” Kise breaks in, desperately hoping he’s misinterpreting something.

“Yamazaki Kenji,” Gou says. “The Yamazaki line has been ruling the Samezuka branch forever. There are two brothers, right? Kenji-san and Seiji-san.”

“No, there was a third brother, but I can’t remember his name,” Nagisa says. “He never had a Ceremony. I think he died when they were younger?”

“Oh God,” Kise says, pulling away. He takes out his phone and dials Kasamatsu’s number, his heart beating too fast. As the phone rings and rings, Kise chokes on his own fear.

Finally, the line picks up. “Yeah?”

“Senpai!” Kise cries, relief so powerful it’s almost dizzying. “Are you OK?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Did you see your cousin? Where are you?”

“Yeah, I’m at his house. What’s wrong, Kise?”

“Get out of there now,” Kise says. “It’s too much to explain right now, just leave. Meet me back at our hotel, OK? And stay on the phone, OK?” Kise doesn’t want to risk something happening to Kasamatsu without his knowing.

“Don’t be stupid, that’ll look weird,” Kasamatsu says, sounding impatient. “I’ll be there soon.”

He hangs up before Kise can protest. Without a second thought to the Samezuka Projects, Kise takes off running.

*

In the time it takes to get back to the hotel, Kise considers the possibility of Kasamatsu Youji knowing his family experimented on children and dismissed the idea. It’s not just that Kise hopes this isn’t true (it would be easy, considering his upbringing, to assume all adults were evil. But Youji had been the first person to ever treat Kise like he was human, and Kise doesn’t think he could bear it if Youji was a traitor after all). Ultimately, it just doesn’t make sense.

There had been too many instances when Youji had been surprised by what he learned about Teiko. He had consistently displayed his ignorance over and over again, and no one was _that_ good of an actor (and Kise was an expert at acting).

So Youji didn’t know, but he knew _something_ was wrong with his family. He’d tried to keep Kasamatsu away. If he’d thought it was _really_ dangerous, surely he would have tried harder.

These are the thoughts Kise has to mull over, in order to fill the time, so he doesn’t go crazy with worry. Kasamatsu had picked up the phone, he was fine, he was fine and they were _leaving_ this hell town; mermaids in peril be damned. They could come back with reinforcements, _lots_ of reinforcements, when Kasamatsu was somewhere safe—

“Senpai!” Kise cries, bursting through the hotel door.

“Jesus, what’s wrong with you?” Kasamatsu says, standing in that hotel with his arms crossed.

Kise shuts the door behind him, taking in the sight of Kasamatsu: confused, slightly irritated, maybe a little worried.

Kise _should_ feel better at the sight of him.

He should.

He doesn’t.

“Kise? What is wrong with you? Why are you so freaked out?”

Kise steps closer, close enough to touch, close enough to pull this man into his arms if he wanted, close enough to kiss him, if kissing was something he wanted to do.

“I guess I just panicked,” Kise says. “Hey, Senpai? Can I tell you something I’ve never, ever, _ever_ told you before?”

Kasamatsu’s frown deepens. “I guess?”

“It’s important, I promise. I just never wanted to tell you because it’s kind of embarrassing.

“You see, when I was younger, I used to Copy you when you weren’t around.”

“What?” Kasamatsu growls.

“All the time, in fact,” Kise admits. “You can ask the other Miracles, or your dad, they’ll vouch for me. I used to just wander around in your body because it made me feel better. And I really, really liked being you. Let me tell you, I learned aaaaaallll about my sexual preferences when I was in your body, fun times. I probably know some kinks of yours that even _you_ don’t know you have—”

“Jesus _fuck,_ Kise!” Kasamatsu sputters, turning what should be a very adorable shade of red. “Why the hell are you telling me this now?”

“Oh, well, you see, I thought it would help you understand.”

“Understand _what?”_ Kasamatsu shouts.

Kise punches him right in the face.

He doesn’t stop there, he leaps forward and punches him again, knocks the feet right under him, until Kise is right on top of him, slamming his head down with so much murderous fury it’s like he never left Teiko. He slams him down again and again, his urge to destroy erasing almost every other aspect of his being. This is what it’s like to truly want to kill.

With one hand, he crushes Kasamatsu’s neck, holding him down and applying _just_ enough pressure that the other man can still talk.

“I want you to understand that I know Kasamatsu Yukio’s body better than I know my own,” Kise snarls. “So who the fuck are you?”

The not-Kasamatsu chokes on a laugh and just _smirks_ at him. Then he glows yellow and shifts.

A beautiful, yellow-eyed, yellow-haired woman is there in his place. Still smirking, she says, “Now, now, 626. Is that any way to talk to your big sister?”


	4. Chapter 4

Yamazaki Sousuke thinks about how it feels like he’s lost all control over his life.

He’d been living in America for the past few years, as his dad tried to manage all the complications there. And now his dad was dead, and he was in Japan, living in the halls of Samezuka once more.

With his Uncle Kenji.

And all things considered, he _really_ didn’t want to live with Uncle Kenji again.

Then there was Kasamatsu Yukio. Sousuke really didn’t want his cousin in Iwatobi, but in retrospect, he couldn’t even say he was surprised Kasamatsu had come anyway. It was very much like Kasamatsu to try and do the _right_ thing. Never mind the fact that in doing so, it was the worst possible situation for the other man.

Kasamatsu couldn’t have known that. And now he’s here, in Samezuka, tense, confused, and angry. Sousuke is already kicking himself—he should have tried harder to get Kasamatsu to stay away. He should have made up some reason that Kasamatsu would accept for why he should never come to Iwatobi.

“What is this place?” Kasamatsu says, his voice with a barely perceptible growl. He saw the Sagittarius-line earlier; he saw a few of the Capricorn-line wandering around. Kasamatsu, Sousuke recalls, was always a pretty smart guy. Sousuke’s willing to bet that Kasamatsu has a pretty good idea what this place is, even if he doesn’t have all the facts. (He knows what Kasamatsu must be thinking: he must think this place is like Teiko. Kasamatsu has been living with a Yellow Six, if the news reports are correct, and it would be easy to see Samezuka and assume they were the same thing).

“This? This is your heritage, boy,” Kenji says.

Sousuke’s jaw tenses as he keeps his face completely blank, not speaking at all. He still manages to draw Kenji’s attention anyway. “You should go check on your unit, Sousuke, let me talk to Yukio-kun alone.”

“I should stay,” Sousuke ventures, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. “I could help explain things—”

“I’m perfectly capable of explaining things to my own nephew, aren’t I?” Kenji asks, raising a brow.

“Of course,” Sousuke says. He looks to Kasamatsu, who only nods to reply, a slight movement that would be hard to notice, if Sousuke hadn’t been looking for it.

So he must know _something_. He knows enough to be on guard around Kenji. That’s better than nothing—although Sousuke’s willing to bet Kasamatsu doesn’t know how much danger he’s in right now.

But Kenji had called Kasamatsu “nephew.” Sousuke had been nervous when Kenji said, _But you can call me Archer,_ because that’s what Kenji’s underlings called him. It meant that Kenji didn’t see Kasamatsu as kin. But if he was acknowledging their familial connection now, then Kasamatsu was probably safe. For now.

So Sousuke gets up and leaves. There’s nothing else he can do, anyway.

*

Growing up, the phantom figure of Uncle Youji had haunted Sousuke’s childhood. Every decision Seiji had made in rearing his own son was so that Sousuke “wouldn’t grow up like that waste Youji.”

It had been a pretty versatile scare tactic when he was younger. “You don’t want to be like your Uncle Youji, do you?” was used for pretty much everything. And he definitely _hadn’t_ , even though he never quite understood what exactly made Youji so disappointing.

Among the many accusations Seiji had declared as his younger brother’s sins: Youji was a pervert; Youji didn’t value tradition; Youji lacked discipline; he was weak; he had unnatural interests; he lacked respect, motivation. He would never amount to anything.

All things considered, it had been a sharp surprise to finally meet Kasamatsu Youji, who had a loving wife and a stable job in the military. He wasn’t the kind of perverted useless debaucher that Sousuke had come to associate with the phantom uncle.

He only understood later how exactly Youji had failed his family.

After that, the only confusing aspect of the whole thing was the fact that the Yamazaki family left Youji alone. It’s a mystery Sousuke still has today. He knows what happens to failures. The fact that they let Youji live _outside_ , and worse, _have a family,_ was very confusing.

Sousuke had always privately thought maybe Uncle Kenji had just forgotten about Youji, and the fact that Youji had kids.

And now here is Kasamatsu, reminding Kenji that the black sheep of the family is still alive, and oh yes, he has three black lambs.

Not his problem. Not yet, anyway. There is nothing he can do for Kasamatsu now.

He had a whole other mess to worry about.

*

“I swear to God, the Initiates get worse each year,” Mikoshiba Seijuurou groans.

“Didn’t your little brother have his Ceremony this year?” Sousuke asks mildly.

“That’s kind of my point,” Mikoshiba says.

“Nii-san!” Momotarou whines, coming up from behind to sit at their table, followed by a shamefaced kid Sousuke only vaguely recognizes.

“I’m sorry, Captain,” the kid mumbles.

“You need to learn how to shoot, Ai. It’s been a year since _you_ had your Ceremony,” Mikoshiba says.

“Shooting comes easier to some than others,” Sousuke says.

“Yeah, except when Ai shoots he has a habit of occasionally shooting at his unit,” Mikoshiba points out. “He’s lucky we haven’t given him bullets yet or someone would have died.”

Sousuke remembers the kid now. Nitori Aichiruu’s bad shooting had been rather legendary. “Maybe we can practice together sometime,” he offers.

“Really?” Ai brightens. “That would be amazing, Yamazaki-senpai! Can we start tonight?”

“Sure,” Sousuke says, half-smiling.

“Me too, me too!” Momotarou says eagerly. “I’m having trouble too. Shooting is _hard_.”

“You really want to stay late practicing with the new Initiates?” Mikoshiba says, amused.

Sousuke shrugs. “Sure, why not?”

“I don’t think you quite know what you’re getting into; they’re a hyper bunch, with nonstop questions. You remember what it was like after the—oh, I guess you wouldn’t.”

Sousuke just shrugs again, but the younger ones are looking at him curiously.

“You _did_ have your Ceremony, right Yamazaki-senpai?”

“Yes, of course,” Sousuke says.

“It wasn’t the same for Sousuke, though. He already knew everything about the Legacy before the Ceremony, so he didn’t have any questions,” Mikoshiba explains.

“ _Really?_ ” Both of the new Initiates exclaim, staring at Sousuke in wide-eyed shock.

Sousuke doesn’t _think_ Mikoshiba is being petty here, although he knows it was a point of contention, especially with the older kids, when they found out Sousuke’s father had already explained about their heritage to Sousuke when he was very young. That Sousuke had _grown up_ with the knowledge, as if he was a Capricorn-line, whose physical differences made keeping the secret impossible.

He knew a lot of people thought it had been favoritism because he was a Yamazaki. And truthfully, it probably _had_ been. Uncle Kenji did _not_ approve of Seiji’s decision to raise his son with the truth, and maybe there would have been more consequences, if it hadn’t been Kenji’s brother breaking the rules.

“Why _aren’t_ we raised knowing?” Momotarou asks. “It’s not fair that Nii-san got to know before I did!”

“ _Momo,_ ” Mikoshiba chides.

“I’m just saying—the Legacy is _so_ cool! It’s so amazing that we get to be part of this! I just don’t see why we couldn’t have known about it all along,” Mikoshiba says, still in a whining sort of protest.

“It would have made the Ceremony less scary, if we knew the truth,” Ai offers tentatively.

Sousuke raises a brow at both of them. “Did no one die during your Ceremony?”

Both boys instantly hunch down, ashamed. “Nooo, two people did,” Momotarou says, sounding wretched.

“That’s why,” Mikoshiba says. “Not everyone is worthy. We don’t tell our children until after they survive the Ceremony and prove their worth. We can’t risk telling people if they aren’t going to make it.”

He’s not looking at Sousuke when he explains, and it’s entirely possible Mikoshiba isn’t thinking about Yamazaki Youji at all.

_“You broke tradition,” Kenji had said when he found out Seiji had told Sousuke everything._

_“He has to know,” Seiji said. “Otherwise he might grow up like Youji. He has to know why it’s important, otherwise—”_

_“_ That man _only proves why our silence is so important. Can you imagine what it would be like if Youji_ had _known the truth?”_

_“But maybe he would have—”_

_“Been less of a failure? Not been a perverted waste? No, Seiji. Youji was a lost cause. We cannot side step tradition because of him.”_

But Kenji let Sousuke grow up in the halls of Samezuka anyway. Let him meet with the Capricorn-line children, let him learn alongside them. It had all been fine, until…

He shakes his head, refusing to let his thoughts stray too much down that path.

“They _Capricorn-line_ gets to grow up knowing,” Momotarou points out, sulkily. “I hear they grow up here, and—”

“The Capricorn-line are not people you should envy,” Mikoshiba rebukes, and his brother shrinks. Both of the Initiates stare, wide-eyed.

Sousuke clears his throat. “They don’t grow up knowing, anyway. They aren’t told about the Legacy. They just grow up here.”

“Weird,” Momotarou says. “What are they told, then? Don’t they think it’s odd they can breathe under water?”

There’s another silence, with Mikoshiba and Sousuke trying not to look at each other. Sousuke wonders what it would have been like if he _had_ grown up ignorant, like everyone else at the table. If he’d grown up thinking he was a normal human until the Ceremony, and everything changed. Maybe that would have been better.

“They aren’t really told anything,” Sousuke says, his voice clipped. It’s not like they knew there was an alternative path. Unlike Sousuke, the Capricorn-line never had the chance to see outside and know what other children were like.

“Hey, hey, speaking of Capricorn-line, did you hear about the new guy?” Momotarou bursts out, abruptly shifting the mood at the table (unbeknownst to him, turning to an even more dangerous topic). “He’s over there—”

“Momo-kun, don’t point!” Ai pulls down his friend’s arm.

Sousuke’s eyes flick towards the table where Momotarou was pointing, and briefly sees the very unhappy Makoto, sitting next to an oblivious chatting Kisumi.

“I heard he _ran away,_ ” Momo says conspiratorially, as if he’s revealing something new. “Can you imagine it?”

“ _No,_ ” Ai gasps, his eyes wide. “Why would anyone ever run away?”

Mikoshiba and Sousuke briefly meet each other’s gaze before looking away quickly, not willing to admit that they’d shared that mutual moment of empathy. _They’re young. They’ll learn soon enough why someone might want to run._

It would be too treasonous to acknowledge the thought.

*

He truly doesn’t mind working with the new Initiates after hours; he’d never had any younger siblings of his own, and being there for family was an important part of the Legacy’s values.

If he has other reasons for being near the beach at night, well. That’s no one’s business but his own.

“Ai, you have to keep your eyes open when aiming,” Sousuke reminds gently.

“I know,” Ai wails. “But it’s so scary.”

Sousuke represses a sigh. He knows what his father would have said: _Fear is weakness._ It was practically a Yamazaki family tenet. “I’ll be less scary with practice. And anyway, you’re a lot tougher now than you used to be—your body can handle a lot more pain and damage. It’s one of the perks of being Sagittarius-line.”

This, apparently, was not reassuring at all, as Ai widens his eyes and gulps.

Seiji hadn’t thought “that Nitori boy” would make it. He’d had his doubts about Momotarou too, who had childish pursuits like stag beetles. Sousuke’s glad his father was wrong about these two (and maybe that’s another reason why he’s here, late at night, trying to help them succeed). “Alright, that’s enough for the both of you. There’s no point in overtraining.”

“Aww, I could keep going! I have so much energy now!” Momotarou says.

That’s part of the post-Ceremony experience Sousuke _does_ remember well enough: how it felt to suddenly be stronger, faster, more agile. He’d felt invincible. Sousuke remember thinking nothing was ever going to hurt him again.

A twinge of pain flares through his shoulder, mocking the memory. His shoulder was still a painful reminder of everything that went wrong in America. But maybe it was just psychosomatic. The doctor’s said that happened sometimes.

“It’s still important to get rest. Back to the bunkers, both of you.”

The two groan but head back indoors. They don’t realize it yet, but they’d only been allowed out at this hour because Sousuke was with them. Or maybe they did know, but hadn’t fully realized the extent they were no longer free. Sousuke knows the two Initiates are still excited by the change their bodies went through; he knows they’re learning some of the lore and it’s incredibly thrilling to be part of this, like stepping into some fantasy world where suddenly the impossible is possible.

They don’t understand yet how much they’re losing.

Maybe they won’t ever realize it. A lot of people don’t. And some do realize, but aren’t bothered by it.

“Lost in thought, Sousuke?”

If his heart reacts with a quick flutter at the sound of the voice, Sousuke is at least positive no one would ever be able to tell by looking at his face. He tells himself it’s just the general anxiety that might come by doing something he knows is against the rules.

“You shouldn’t be here, Rin.”

“Technically speaking, this is the one place where I _should_ be,” Rin says, and Sousuke only scowls.

Rin leans on a rock, hidden in the shadow there. No one would see him here, if they happened to glance out. And he looks remarkably unconcerned about potential danger, so it seems like a pointless endeavor to try and point it out.

“Rin,” Sousuke starts, unhappy.

“Is it true Makoto’s in there?” Rin breaks in.

Sousuke’s scowl deepens. Because of course it had to do with the runaway Capricorn-line. At least, Sousuke thinks, it’s not _Haru._ “Can’t you tell?” he asks blithely. “You’ve Relayed with Makoto before.”

Rin’s eyes just fix on his, silent and waiting. Sousuke relents and says, “Yeah, he’s here. He’s not in danger,” he says, seeing Rin open his mouth and anticipating the next series of questions. “You know why Uncle Kenji wanted him and the others.”        

“Ah, yeah. I know.” Rin runs a hand through his hair. “It’s why I wanted them here.”

“ _You_ brought them?” Surprise escapes before he thinks it through, but after awhile, he realizes it made the most sense. He’d been wondering why the runaway Capricorn-line would come so close Iwatobi waters, after they’d spent so many years evading capture. “Of course you did. They must love you a lot.” That didn’t sound jealous, did it?

Rin laughs—a quick sort of sound that he instantly silences. Rin must be used to keeping quiet. “Are you kidding? They wouldn’t have come if _I_ asked them to.”

The way he says that it’s like he wants Sousuke to ask questions. And Sousuke is curious, he won’t deny that, but he knows better than to get caught up in Rin’s pace. “Whatever it is, you’re playing with fire, Rin.”

“Sousuke—” Rin takes a step forward.

Sousuke steps back. If Rin continues out any further to follow him, he won’t be in the shadows anymore; he’ll be seen. “You shouldn’t tell me anything. I won’t cover for you.”

“No?” Rin tilts his head.

“He’s my uncle,” Sousuke bursts out, unexpected anger taking over his senses. “He’s the only family I have left, and what you’re doing—whatever it is you’re doing—I don’t need to know about it because I’m not on your side.”

He regrets the words almost immediately after he says them. But he also knows it’s something he _had_ to say, eventually. They can’t keep going like this.

“You once said you were always going to be my friend,” Rin says quietly. The memory rises and nearly chokes Sousuke with the intensity of the pain. Sousuke can’t look at Rin now, he keeps his back to the ocean and his eyes fixed on the shadowed outline of Samezuka.

“You said no matter what, you were always going to be my friend,” Rin continues, his voice laden with something that might be grief, and might be longing, but is out of Sousuke’s reach regardless. “Was that a lie?”

Sousuke swallows. He still can’t look at Rin. He’d thought he was going to die, that day his father told him they were transferring Rin to the Australia branch. The idea of never seeing Rin again felt too much like the ending of everything good, so much so that life didn’t even seem important anymore.

“That was a long time ago.”

Rin darts out then—sudden and quick and completely visible from Samezuka’s line of sight. He grabs Sousuke’s collar before Sousuke can yell at him for recklessness and then _pulls_. Off-balance and completely under Rin’s control, Sousuke finds himself being dragged into the shadows.

Back pressed up against the boulder, Rin wraps one arm around Sousuke’s neck and another around his waist, pulling him so close there’s not a single fraction of space between them. Rin kisses Sousuke like he’s attacking him, frenzied, forceful and demanding, Rin’s kiss is like a river current and the only thing Sousuke can do is give in to the momentum.

He shouldn’t, he _knows_ he shouldn’t, but he’s not thinking at all as he presses up against Rin, grabbing every bit of skin he can and holding on tight, kissing with the desperation of a man on the edge of the apocalypse.

“Say it to my face,” Rin growls, gasping as he breaks apart the kiss to grip onto Sousuke’s collar. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t care anymore.”

“Rin, Rin,” Sousuke leans down, burying his face in Rin’s shoulder, holding onto him like the only support he has left in this world. “You’re destroying me.”

“Some things need to be destroyed,” Rin says, his voice just a promise in the dark.

Sousuke squeezes tighter and then releases him quickly and pulls back, convinced that if he’d held on for one more second he would have never been able to let go. “Don’t come back here, Rin. Or you’ll be seen.”

He turns and starts walking, forcing himself not to look back.

“He’s not, you know,” he hears Rin say quietly. “He’s not the only family you have left.”

Sousuke keeps walking.

*

He’s not expecting anyone in his room when he sneaks in late, and it takes him awhile to realize that it’s Makoto, and not someone reporting back to Kenji. All things considered, Makoto is probably the last person in the facility who would tell Archer his nephew came in after curfew.

“I’m sorry about your father, Sousuke-kun.”

The strange thing is, Sousuke actually believes Makoto means it. The other man _is_ probably sorry—he sounds sad on Sousuke’s behalf.

_He’s not the only family you have left._

Sousuke closes his eyes, and wishes he knew what to do.

*

The thing was, he never expected to see Rin again.

After his father transferred Rin to Australia branch without any explanation why, Sousuke had thought about little else but the day he got to meet Rin again. It took years, but he finally realized that day would never happen, and that maybe it was for the best.

So when he went back to Japan, and Rin was there, it was a shock for many reasons.

“How are you even here? “ Sousuke demanded, after the initial surprise. “Did they transfer you back…?”

But even as he started to ask the question, he knew Rin had found him when he was alone for a reason, knew Rin wasn’t back in Samezuka.

“Haru freed me—him and the others. We Relayed and I got out.”

Sousuke’s fists clenched automatically at the mention of Haruka. “That asshole,” he swore fiercely. “He has no idea what that means for _you._ He should have never risked your life like that. Rin, you have to come back. Blame Haru, they won’t—”

He broke off, and Rin grinned his uniquely shark-like smile—like he was amused, but also like he might bite into Sousuke’s flesh. “They wouldn’t hurt Haru, but they won’t hesitate to kill me, you mean?”

It was only then that Sousuke finally let himself think through all the implications. Rin was _here_ , in Iwatobi. He knew Archer wanted Haruka and the other runaways for a reason. There were probably a lot of things that Rin knew now.

“You’re with them,” Sousuke said, his voice flat. “The rebels.”

He didn’t actually want to know Rin’s answer, so it was a good thing Rin didn’t confirm. Rin just said, “Samezuka always made it sound like there was only two options—the Legacy of stars or the ugly mundane outside world.

“But that’s not the only option, is it? Not everyone is so happy to be born a soldier for the stars, are they?”

“Rin, don’t.”

“Don’t what? Say what we both know? They talk so much about how superior we are, how we’re designed by the heavens, and not the folly of Man, but in the end, the Legacy is just as corrupt as those perverted human scientists at Teiko.”

“Don’t talk like you’re one of them. Rin, you don’t know—”

“I know my father was one of them.”

Sousuke fell silent.

“He was, wasn’t he?” And Sousuke desperately doesn’t want Rin to continue down this line, but Rin’s eyes are locked on his, pinning him down, and Sousuke can’t stop him from continuing anyway, “I know my father was the Capricorn Elder, wasn’t he?”

“Rin—”

“It was never supposed to be your father. Which makes sense, doesn’t it? Since your dad isn’t even Capricorn-line. I don’t know why I never questioned that when I was younger. But my dad rebelled, and he died for it. Archer killed him.”

“Rin, I—”

“You’re going to have to pick a side, Sousuke.”

“He’s my family.”

“So am I.”

*

And he should have left Rin alone as soon as it was confirmed that he was one of the rebels.

But he kept coming back to the water, like a bad addiction. He told himself it was just because Rin had been his friend, once his best friend, and that wasn’t something he could just let go of, no matter who Rin was now. He told himself that he was a Yamazaki, and the Yamazakis were loyal, it was in their blood. Once a Yamazaki gave his loyalty to someone, he couldn’t just let that go.

He told himself it wasn’t hurting anyone.

*

“You know what I never understood? Why I was sent away.”

Sousuke tensed, because it was a topic so far that had never been spoken between them. Why Rin had to be sent away.

“I mean, at the time your father said a lot of different things. ‘You’ll be better in Australia, the training will make you stronger.’ And I really did want to be stronger, you know? But he also spent a lot of time making it real clear that I wasn’t good enough to be your friend. That Sagittarius-line and Capricorn-line couldn’t be friends, and I believed that for a long time, but it doesn’t really make sure, now that I think on it. It’s not like it’s forbidden to mingle between lines, hell, it’s almost required to inter-marry between lines, so why did it bother him so much that we were friends?”

Sousuke _should_ have shrugged. He should have hedged and pled ignorance. But it had been unfair to Rin. So he said lightly, “It was probably because of my Uncle Youji.”

“The Lost Yamazaki?” Rin said, sounding surprised. “He was the reason your dad started bringing you to Samezuka in the first place, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Sousuke said, extremely reluctant. “Dad really, _really_ wanted to make sure I never turned out like Youji in any way. He thought if he raised me knowing about the Legacy, I wouldn’t…be like Youji.”

“Yeah, OK. So what does he have to do with us being friends?”

Sousuke coughed and he didn’t look at Rin when he tried to say with extreme indifference, “Well, I guess my dad was worried I’d be gay.”

Rin’s laugh was short and harsh, causing Sousuke to flinch at the sound. “Was that it? Huh. It’s not like he had to worry about _you,_ I guess.” The laughter faded away when he saw Sousuke’s face. Rin just tilted his head, suddenly intent. “Did he?”

That was a pivotal decision point, even if Sousuke hadn’t really thought about it at the time. The fact that he didn’t answer was all the answer he needed to give. And when Rin leaned in, it wasn’t a surprise. Sousuke thought maybe his whole life had been leading up to that.

Sousuke spent a lot of time feeling conflicted later. His father tried so hard to keep this from happening, but now his father was dead. And maybe there were inevitable things, written in the stars.

Rin just happened to be one of those inevitable things.

*

Sousuke lies awake at night, listening to the uneasy breathing of Makoto’s fretful sleeping.

Makoto is here, which means Haruka and the others are surely close. Rin is close, which means the rebels are close. Even Kasamatsu—even the fact that Yamazaki Youji’s son is here, at the same time, that also sort of feels like something fated. Sousuke feels like he’s on the edge of something cataclysmic, like a meteor crashing to the earth, and there’s nothing he can do but stand back and watch the world burn.

*

Kasamatsu didn’t want Sousuke to leave. He also really didn’t want to come here in the first place, but Kenji had a way of speaking that really made it seem like he had no choice. Kenji had wanted Kasamatsu to come with him, and he spoke like a man pointing a gun, even though he wasn’t armed at all (as far as Kasamatsu could tell).

Kasamatsu is not an idiot. He remembers who _Archer_ is, and even if he hadn’t, one step inside Samezuka, and he knew. It looked just like how he always imagined Teiko. Armed men and a few terrified children.

Now he’s alone with a man who should be family, but is not. Youji wasn’t scared of many things, but Kasamatsu had always gotten the sense that Youji was terrified of his eldest brother.

Now, Kasamatsu really has to wonder just how much his father knew.

“You’re like Teiko,” he says bluntly, because he doesn’t see the point in beating around the bush.

“We are _nothing_ like those people,” Kenji says, with a curl to his lips that makes Kasamatsu think he’s being genuine. “Teiko made freaks of nature, we are part of a legacy as old as mankind. We are born superior, not made in a lab like some kind of experiment. Unlike that monstrosity your father took in, we are still human. Born _better,_ superior in every way, but still human.”

The rhetoric didn’t seem all that different than Teiko. It seems especially odd since the mermen earlier _did_ seem to think they had been created in a lab. But Kasamatsu has more burning questions at the moment. Kasamatsu’s throat is painfully dry, and he licks his lips. He’s terrified of the answer, but he has to ask anyway, “Does my father know about this?”

“Of course not,” Kenji says, still sounding disgusted. Kasamatsu feels almost dizzy with relief. “Youji was a failure from the start. He had no loyalty, no sense of family pride. We could not have trusted our lore with Youji.”

Kasamatsu has never been good at hiding his anger. He’s never been all that good at any kind of subterfuge, which makes him very ill-equipped to sit here and listen to this man insult his father. It was bad enough hearing him call Kise a _monstrosity_ —but if Kenji keeps insulting Kasamatsu’s family he’s not going to be able to contain himself.

“You’re loyal to your father, are you?” Kenji says, noticing despite Kasamatsu’s best efforts to remain calm.

“He’s my _father,_ ” Kasamatsu growls.

“It means you’re a Yamazaki after all. Yamazaki are fiercely loyal. It reflects well on you that you would honor him, despite his many failings. Children _should_ honor parents, however unworthy they are.

“It’s why I brought you here. What you said to Sousuke-kun—it is clear you have some sense for family values. More than I would have expected from Youji’s son.”

 _Keep it together._ It’s important that he doesn’t lose his temper in this situation. “Why? Look, whatever—whatever _this_ is, you didn’t have to bring me here. I wouldn’t have known anything about this place if you hadn’t brought me here, so why do it?”

Kenji leans back in his chair, watching Kasamatsu with a thoughtful gaze. It’s still incredibly off-putting how much he looks like Youji. Except for the fact that he’s clearly several years older, with graying hair and the slightly crooked nose, they might have passed for twins.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I love my brothers?”

“No,” Kasamatsu replies.

Unexpectedly, Kenji smiles. “You’re an honest kid, aren’t you? Lying isn’t your first instinct. You’re not at all what I would have expected from one of Youji’s children. That man didn’t know how to tell the truth. He’d lie about what we ate for breakfast just for the fun of it. You couldn’t believe anything he told you. But you look like you’ve never told a lie in your life.”

_Truth is always better in the long run, Yukio. If you can lie to others, then you can lie to yourself. And there’s no easier path to misery than lying to yourself._

“I’ve never seen much point in lying,” Kasamatsu says evenly, his voice hoarse as he wrestles with the unexpected memory. He couldn’t deny the accusation even if he wanted to: lies _did_ came easy to his father. Everything Kasamatsu knew about honesty he learned from his mother.

“I _do_ love my little brothers, even Youji. Otherwise you would not be sitting here, Yukio-kun, in more ways than one. You shouldn’t even exist.”      

Kenji looks like he’s enjoying himself. For all the world, he could be some history professor, talking to his student during office hours. “Your father, even though he didn’t know it, was born into a long and glorious heritage. Had he been worthy, he would have undergone a sacred ceremony, and been initiated into the truth, but he turned back on his family before that was even a possibility.”

 _Holy crap, it’s a cult,_ Kasamatsu thinks, horrified. This is some extreme cult-like shit right here and it’s genuinely terrifying.

“The failures are usually kept here. If they don’t die, they go mad, and we lock them away for their own safety. That’s where I _should_ have put Youji. In the madhouse with the rest of the people who shamed their families. But I didn’t, because I still loved him.”

The strange thing is, he probably believes that. He probably thinks that’s a way to love someone.

“But then he married _that_ _woman_ and tainted the line.”

Kasamatsu whips his head up, clenching his fists to his side. “My mother was not a taint!”

Kenji looks at him like an emperor might before an insect. “She was. She was of inferior blood, low class in every way. She was a crass, unnatural mother who failed her sons, and it’s a good thing she’s dead, otherwise—”

Kasamatsu launches himself across the table. Instantly, Kenji moves forward, knocking Kasamatsu down and pinning his face to the ground with a hand to his neck.

“My mother was a _million_ times better than you,” Kasamatsu yells, struggling futilely against the hold. The desire to punch this man is so strong it supersedes all sense of self-preservation. “Don’t ever talk about her, you monster.”

Kenji slams Kasamatsu’s head down, hard enough that the world blacks out for a fraction of a second, and then he has trouble focusing.

“I think you have a lot of potential, Yukio-kun,” Kenji says mildly, unruffled by Kasamatsu’s outburst. “You’re loyal to your parents, and it’s not your fault that you’ve given your loyalty to the wrong people. But family is something greater than just blood, understand? Family is everything. I brought you here because I think you might understand that. But, believe me, I have learned from my past mistakes. If your family is unworthy, then you have to cut them down, like a gardener might cut off a weak branch on a rosebush so that others will grow strong. That’s what it means to be family.”

That’s not a family, Kasamatsu wants to yell. But the grip on the back of his head makes it so all that comes out of his mouth is an ugly choking sound.

Kenji lifts him up. “You’re still learning. But if you don’t learn quickly, then clearly you aren’t strong enough to be in this family. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” Kasamatsu spits out, “I understand.” If Kasamatsu doesn’t start toeing the crazy party line soon, Kenji will “cut the weak branch.” The only thing that stops Kasamatsu from telling this guy to fuck off right here and now is the thought of his younger brothers. If this man starts killing off nephews, what’s to stop him from hurting Mizuki and Ren?      

“Good. I’m going to let you think it over right, Yukio-kun. If you want to know more about your heritage in the morning, then we can talk like civilized people. But if you’re more like Youji than I thought, well then. There’s no point trying to reason with you.”

*

Kasamatsu sits alone in a neat room that he’s already checked doesn’t open from the inside. It looks fairly normal, all things considered. Except for the absence of basketball and band posters, books, and personal items, there isn’t much distinguishing it from his college dorm room.

Kenji had brought him dinner and clean clothes and assured him this was not a prison. But he also took his cellphone and put him in a locked room, so. Clearly that man spent a lot of time lying to himself.

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that he’s in danger. Maybe because he doesn’t fully feel like he _is_ in danger. Kise is out there, and there’s no way Kenji could know that. And sure, Kise doesn’t know Kasamatsu is in danger, but he’s coming to Samezuka regardless. All Kasamatsu has to do is find the missing merman and make sure they’re together when the rescue comes.

He knows he should probably sleep. When rescue comes, he should be well-rested. But he’s too confused and angry to sleep.

He’s confident that if Youji _had_ known the extent of his family’s crazy, he would have done a better job of explaining to Kasamatsu why he should stay away. But at the same time, it was obvious his father knew _something_ , and he can’t help but feel like these past revelations meant he never knew about his father, and that thought is deeply unsettling to him.

He sighs and lies on the bed knowing he won’t get to sleep but figuring he’ll try anyway.

Thinking about his father just leads him into circles upon circles. He could spend hours over-thinking everything Youji had ever done and said, and he still wouldn’t come any closer to figuring out his father.

So instead he thinks about his mother.

*

“Oh, Yukio. Why did you break Nakajima’s window?”

“Because he drowned them!” Kasamatsu howled. “He threw the kittens away like they were trash! And—” he’d started bawling at this point, “And I couldn’t save them, so I _had_ to—he had to be punished!”

Hinami didn’t hug him, like others might have when their eight-year-old sons were clearly upset. Instead, she knelt down so she could look him in the eyes. She tilted his chin up so he would meet her gaze.

“You tried to save the kittens?”

Kasamatsu nodded. He’d jumped into the river and he’s searched for the bag but when he found it—

“They were dead,” he sniffed, rubbing at his eyes so he would stop crying.

“That was a dangerous thing to do,” Hinami said, noting from his damp clothes what he must have done.

“I _hate_ him! He’s a bad man! Why does he get to live but the kittens can’t? What did the kittens do?”

“Yukio, listen to me. He _was_ in the wrong. But you shouldn’t have thrown rocks at his house. No, listen, there’s a lot of bad people in this world. There’s a lot of awful things, and as you grow older you’ll meet more and more people who do awful things just because they can.”

“Then—what’s the point of anything?!” Kasamatsu cried out, suddenly overwhelmed by the thought that the world could be filled with horrible people who killed kittens and got away with it.

“The point is to never stop caring,” Hinami said. “The point is to never forget that even though there are a lot of bad people in this world, there will always be people who get up and devote themselves to defeating evil.”

“Like you and dad?”

“Like me and your father, but also like our neighbors, who donate to charity every week, or Oka-san who knits blankets for the homeless. You don’t have to actually combat the bad, just practice good.

“Listen Yukio, because this is what you have to remember no matter what: There’s a lot of bad things in the world, but don’t ever let that change who _you_ are. You do what is right, you stand up for those who are less fortunate than you, and if you must be violent, be violent in defense of yourself and others.

“But don’t be vengeful. Don’t waste your time with hate. Don’t ever let the bad people make you forget the good, understand?”

Kasamatsu nodded, even if he didn’t fully understand, he knew he _wanted_ to understand. He wanted to be the kind of person his mom talked about.

*

The door creaks open and someone slips inside his room. “Senpai? Are you in there?”

“Kise?” Kasamatsu lurches out of bed, but stills at the sight of the other man.

“Oh good, you’re OK! Quickly, we don’t have a lot of time—”

“Who are you?” Kasamatsu asks. For the first time since coming to this place, Kasamatsu feels the beginning of genuine fear. “You’re not Kise.”

“Jesus _fuck_ ,” the not-Kise throws his hands up and slams the door behind him, locking them both inside. He flops down on the bed across from Kasamatsu. “I know I’m not a Success, but this is getting a little humiliating. How’d _you_ know? And I swear to God, if you tell me some story about masturbation, I’m going to punch you.”

Well, that was certainly a weird statement. Someone clearly _had_ punched the not-Kise. There was a giant bruise on the right side of his face, and his lips were cut.

“I can just tell,” Kasamatsu says. He’s used to seeing Kise in the faces of other people. It’s incredibly off-putting to see a stranger in Kise’s face. “No matter what Copy he’s in, I always know when it’s Kise.”

“Really?” the not-Kise perks up from the bed, eyeing Kasamatsu with renewed interest. “ _That’s_ fascinating. You’re not Immune are you?” He cackles then, which is _very_ bizarre, because it’s not at all like Kise’s laugh. He’s not using Kise’s speech patterns either, and it’s very surreal. “ _That_ would be almost _too_ good to be true. Archer has a super hard-on for finding an immune human. You don’t need to answer though, I know you’re not. I Copied you earlier, and 626 said he’s Copied you too—thousand times ‘ick’ by the way—so it’s probably just because you’re a half-breed.”

“Both my parents were Japanese,” Kasamatsu says, confused. It’s hard to follow all the leaps the not-Kise makes, there’s so many confusing things being said that he can only fixate on the most recent confusing thing that was said.

“You’re half-human, half-Legacy,” the not-Kise corrects. “Although, if your dad was never Initiated, I guess maybe it doesn’t count? He’s probably not that much different than a normal human. And anyhow, it’s probably because of your human mommy. Archer said sometimes there are human resistants, thanks to hundreds of years and evolution. Humans have adapted to the presence of the Legacy, even without ever knowing they exist. Boring stuff, really, although Archer is mad for it.”

Despite the weirdness of the situation, Kasamatsu _does_ find it kind of fascinating. If superpowered humans existed for as long as Kenji said, then it makes sense a type of resistant gene would form too. It also sheds some light on how Teiko was able to do some of the things it did.

“True immunity is probably a myth though,” the not-Kise continues thoughtfully, as if Kasamatsu was participating in this conversation. “I’ve been searching ages and ages because Archer is just _stuck_ on this idea, but I don’t believe it exists, do you?”

“Well,” Kasamatsu is working on a theory that needs testing, so he casually says, “There are the Rainbows—”

“God! I said _human_ immunity, don’t be fucking stupid.” The not-Kise shivers dramatically. “Rainbows were Project psychics and just the fucking _worst_. If I ever see a fucking Rainbow again I’m going to take it _apart._ ”

“You’re Teiko,” Kasamatsu says flatly.

The not-Kise rolls his eyes. “What was your first clue?” He glows yellow and shifts—a very familiar sight—only now there’s a beautiful yellow-haired woman on the bed. 

“GJ-Y623, at your service,” she introduces.

“Jabberwocky,” Kasamatsu startles.

She leans forward, a dangerous smile playing on her lips. “Now, how could you know that?”

“Ran into your Generation’s Gold and Silver awhile back,” Kasamatsu says, studying her. She looks a startling amount like Kise: shorter, but with a face so similar they could be siblings. She still has bruises on her face and a cut lip, and Kasamatsu finds that odd.

“Really? Those two are still around? Huh. They were sold to the Americans, I would have thought they’d be dissected a long time ago.”

She doesn’t sound particularly excited by the news of their survival—she doesn’t sound affected by the news at all; like their living or dying was all the same thing to her. Her apathy only seems odd when Kasamatsu thinks about how glad all the Miracles were when they found out Orange was still alive. He’d always gotten the impression that the Miracles viewed their Generation as a family.

“And how did you escape?” Kasamatsu asks, intrigued. He wonders how many other Teiko Projects are still alive.

She rolls her eyes again. “You’re not very bright, are you? Clearly, I didn’t. I was sold to Samezuka.”

“Oh,” Kasamatsu says, horrified and saddened by the thought.

“Eh, it’s not so bad. Better Samezuka than _humans,_ even if we disagree on which one of us is superior. FYI, it’s me. Teiko is _clearly_ the superior race, no matter what these whacko cult-freaks think. And hey, I still get to kill people.”

“ _Oh,_ ” Kasamatsu says, sympathy draining fast. He studies the woman more closely. She has a sort of mad glimmer in her eyes, like Jason Silver and Nash Gold had.

“You know,” he says conversationally. “Kise always heals after he shifts.”

“God, you don’t need to remind me that he was better,” she says, curling her lips. “He _was_ the closest thing Teiko ever got to a Successful Yellow Six, even if he’s _not_ the Success he tells everyone he is—”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” Kasamatsu bristles. It seems rather absurd to be offended about this on Kise’s behalf, but he still is.

“Oh, he has _you_ convinced too, does he? Well, he’s _not,_ ” she says succinctly. “The Yellow Sixes were created to achieve something very specific, and no one ever came close, not even 626. Yellow Sixes were _supposed_ to have Perfect Copy, and that includes being able to Copy the other Projects. 626 can’t do that, now can he?”

Kasamatsu wants to defend Kise—Kise _could_ Copy the other Miracles, except Kuroko. But then he recalls that Kise couldn’t Copy their abilities, and surely _that_ wasn’t what she meant…

“When all is said and done, he’s little better than a Successful Bronze Six.”

“A what?” Kasamatsu knew all the Project Groups. Kise had explained all of them—even the ones who never made it out, like the Whites and Browns. He’d never heard anything _ever_ mentioned about a Bronze Group.

“Oh ho? He didn’t tell you about them _either_? I bet the other fucking Miracles don’t even know. I bet that fucking coward never told them. I mean, it’s kind of obvious we weren’t the first, isn’t it? Didn’t you ever wonder why our numbers were in the twenties when all the other Projects were nearing the hundreds? I mean, did you really think _shapeshifting_ was easier to make than telekinesis?”

Kasamatsu blinks, because he hadn’t really wondered that. Kise had always said it was a relatively new Group, and that they were Successful early on.

“So of course there was another Six Group that came before. A failed one, mind you. Ah, well. I guess a Yellow Six has to keep some secrets, right? Otherwise, what good are we?”

Without any warning, she’s off the bed and on top of Kasamatsu. It all happens so fast he can’t even process it: one moment she was on the bed across from him, the next she was straddling his chest, choking his neck.

“Let me explain something about Teiko, _Senpai,_ ” she croons. “Every Project ever created in Teiko carries the sin of the Projects who died because of them. Get it? Every Project only exists because some other Project was deemed unworthy. That means everyone in Generation _Miracle,”_ she sneers the word, spitting it out like it’s filthy, “carries the blood of Laurel, and King, and _Jabberwocky,_ and all the other Generations that came before.

“And on top of that? All the Generations that come _after_ Miracle were destroyed when Miracle escaped. That makes Miracle the biggest sinners out of every Generation that ever existed. And the Yellow Sixes? _We_ only exist because the Bronze Sixes were scrapped. Come to think of it, we made the Gray Elevens obsolete too.

“Can you do that math, _Senpai?_ That means the worst sinner that Teiko _ever_ created—the one Project that exists because _countless_ Projects died on his behalf—can you guess who that Project is, _Senpai?_ That’s right, it’s the Yellow Six Miracle. Good old GM-Y626.”

Kasamatsu struggles underneath her, clawing at her hands and trying to back her off. She increases the pressure on his neck and he can’t breathe. She leans in, so that her lips brush up against his ear when he speaks, “I’ve spent _years_ dreaming about all the ways I’d want to make 626 pay if I ever saw him again.

“And here _you_ are.”

*

Kasamatsu is pretty sure he’s going to die. His life doesn’t flash before his eyes or anything like that. All he can think about is Kise, and how this is going to destroy him.

The door opens again. “Ah! _There_ you are, Rui-chan!”

“Tch.” Some of the pressure eases off Kasamatsu’s neck and he has a coughing fit as he gasps for air.

The woman sits up, not leaving her position on Kasamatsu’s chest. “What do you want, Kisumi?”

“Rui-chan! Get off him! Archer is going to be _so_ mad at you!”

“Archer said I can have my revenge against Miracle!” she says hotly. “He _promised!_ ”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he’d like it if you killed his nephew.”

The Jabberwocky frowns down at him. “ _He’s_ Archer’s nephew?”

The new boy laughs. “Oh man, you Teiko people. You still can’t tell when people are related? He looks just like Archer! And anyway, you know he’s half-Legacy.”

She scowls. “I thought he was one of the rebel’s kids.”

“Nope, he’s a Yamazaki. Now get off him, Rui-chan, Archer wants to see you.”

She makes a “tch” sound again and gets off Kasamatsu, finally alleviating the pressure so he can breathe again, when he’s done coughing.

“Cheer up, Rui-chan, maybe you can kill someone later.”

“It won’t be fun if it’s not fucking Miracle!” she storms her way out the door, and the pink-haired man glances back and smiles sort of apologetically at Kasamatsu before closing the door.

When Kasamatsu stops coughing and can finally breathe again, he positions himself sitting upright on the bed, leaning his head back against the wall.

He hopes Kise gets here soon, and that he has the sense to bring an army with him when he does.


	5. Chapter 5

“ _Jabberwocky?_ ” Kise’s not entirely sure how he can still be surprised when his past demons come back to haunt him. All things considered, he probably _should_ have anticipated this particular reunion after it was revealed that members of Jabberwocky had been sold off to other places.

“Hey, Miracle. Long time no see. Are you still pretending you’re a Success?”

“I _am_ a Success!” Kise snaps back automatically. And then he scowls at his own instinctive response—even after all these years he can’t believe Jabberwocky can still get under his skin like this. “What did you do to Kasamatsu-senpai?”

“Wouldn’t _you_ like to know?” Jabberwocky sings. “And you’re a Successful Bronze Six, I’ll grant you, but you never did manage what a Yellow was supposed to do, did you?”

“God, _shut up!_ ” Kise snarls. “Shut up, I can’t believe you’re _still_ spouting this crap. There’s no such thing as a Bronze Six.”

“How easy it was for Miracle to forget,” Jabberwocky says, with genuine bitterness. “All of you only ever cared about yourselves. Just because you burned our history to the ground doesn’t stop it from existing.”

“I don’t care!” Kise howls. “Is that what you want to hear? I survived, that’s what we were _supposed_ to do. Don’t cry at me because the others couldn’t do the same. For the last time, where is Senpai?”

“He’s dead,” Jabberwocky says. “I killed him.”

*

In the split second where Kise’s world froze over and shattered, Jabberwocky moved. She bucked and kicked, throwing him off her, giving her all the time she needed to jump to her feet and run out the door.

Kise moves on instinct (his brain is still shut off, still not processing anything; he can’t think, he won’t let himself think; all he has to do is let his instincts take over and he’s a soldier again, quick to hunt down his target.

But he’s too late. By the time he reaches the door he’s lost sight of Jabberwocky—all that’s left is the throng of anonymous people walking about in the evening hours, and she could be anyone.

_Think, think._ GM-Y623 couldn’t heal between Copies—she’d still be bruised. He grabs at random people as he moves through the crowd. After awhile, he has to admit it’s no good. She’s gone.

Then, and only then, does he let himself think about what she said.

_He’s dead. I killed him._  
  
*

He can’t be Kise Ryouta, so he shifts to Kuroko instead.

He’s never fully been able to Copy Kuroko correctly. Kuroko’s emotionless demeanor was a product of _years_ of intense conditioning—that wasn’t something that could just be Copied intentionally.

More to the point, there was a psychic component to Perfect Copy, like all their abilities. For his power to work correctly, it had to respond to a person’s mental pathways, which is why the Copy wasn’t _Perfect_ unless he’d been close to the original in person.

Kuroko’s misdirection made his mental pathways hard to lock onto. Not impossible, but difficult to Copy.

But Kise Ryouta would never work in this situation. Kise Ryouta was far too emotionally invested. Better to be Kuroko, who pushed his own emotions aside in order to better think and plan.

No matter what anyone thought about Kuroko, he was undeniably a planner. He wasn’t the smartest strategist—that was Momoi, followed by Akashi. But he could identify a problem and work towards a solution and his solutions _worked._

Kise needs a solution that will work.

Kise touches the scars on his wrists—Kuroko’s scars. The proof burned into his skin that he could control his emotions. Kuroko wouldn’t be sad now. He wouldn’t be angry or devastated or wrecked. He would be calm.

And he would plan.

*

_“Are you a Yellow Six? Or are you a Miracle?”_

_“I’m both?”_

_“_ Wrong _, 626. You can’t be both. When the time comes, who are you going to choose? The Yellow Sixes or the Miracles?”_

_“Leave him alone, Jabberwocky,” Laurel said quietly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders._

_“I’m teaching him a valuable lesson, 625. You don’t want to be like King, do you?”_

_“Who—who’s King?” he asked._

_“Exactly,” Jabberwocky said, satisfied._

_“No, but, really, who’s King?” he continued._

_“King’s dead, and that’s all you need to know. King chose his Generation, and that’s why—” she mimed a knife across her throat. “The scientists—they want your loyalty to be to them. If you start spouting crap about family, then you’re done for.”_

_“What’s a family?” he asked._

_“We’re your family,” Laurel said. “The Yellow Sixes. We’re not like the other Projects—our blood is the same.”_

_“_ Don’t _think that means anything,” Jabberwocky said. “Or you’ll end up just like King._

_“But if you have to choose—choose us. Or I’ll make you suffer, got it, brat? I’ll fucking destroy you.”_

_“Stop scaring him, 623,” Laurel said._

*

He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath, doing his best to fade into the background, just like Kuroko would.

Jabberwocky was a failed Generation—too unstable, Momoi had said. Even more than usual. Violent and unhinged and that's why they'd been scrapped.

If…if 623 _did_ have some sort of grand revenge plan… she’d draw it out, surely. She wouldn’t just tell him—(he takes in another breath)—she wouldn’t _tell_ him, she’d draw it out (another breath, and he knows he’s failing, this isn’t how Kuroko would act) she wouldn’t just _say_ it, so it can’t be true.

There. He lets out a breath. It can’t be true.

*

“ _What’s the matter, kiddo?”_

_“What makes you think there’s anything wrong?”_

_Youji just shrugged. “Is there?”_

_The thing about Kasamatsu Youji was that he was probably the one person Kise never had to wear any masks around. Or rather, he was the one person where the masks didn’t matter. It was hard to explain, but in many ways, Youji was like a Yellow Six himself._

_Other people, and Kise included the other Miracles in this category, could see the mask and all they would see was a lie. Youji, like the other Yellow Sixes, could see a mask and understand sometimes the lie was the truth._

_“I think I had sisters,” Kise blurted out. He’d wanted to talk to someone for awhile now, and the only person that could be was Youji._

_Youji just watched him, silent, letting him talk it through. “The way—the way siblings sometimes look alike—I think…there were two older Yellow Sixes, leftover from other Generations. And I think they were my sisters.” He trailed off, suddenly uncertain._

_"_ Were _they your sisters?” Youji asked._

_“That’s what I’m saying! I don’t know!”_

_“No, sorry, that was unclear.” Youji hummed as he thought it over and then said, “I have two siblings, but they are not_ brothers _. Except for our intense loathing for one another, we might as well be strangers._

_“And Shintarou-kun—he had a clone, yes? 7284? But I don’t think Shintarou-kun would consider 7284 his brother, do you?”_

_“No, he probably wouldn’t,” Kise agreed._

_“But Naoko-chan_ is _his sister, even though they aren’t related, see? So what I’m saying is—those other Yellow Sixes—were they sisters to you?”_

_Kise swallowed. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess they were.”_

_“Then, I’m sorry.”_

_“Don’t be,” Kise said. “I killed them.”_

_By existing, he killed them. There was a point when it was clear Teiko had no use for them and so he left them behind. Just like he did with Black, and Orange, and all the other Miracles who weren’t Successes._

_“I can still be sorry,” Youji said mildly. “You’re hurt. I’m glad you survived, but I’m sorry for all the hurt you felt.”_

*

A lie can sometimes be true, that’s something only a Yellow Six would understand. So if she said _I killed him,_ that meant she _could_ have killed him. Or that she _would._ Either way, it meant Kasamatsu is in danger, and being Kuroko is turning out to be useless.

When he shifts back to Kise he _does_ feel calmer.

*

Strangely, he doesn’t feel the need to call the other Miracles. This wasn’t their fight. And he’d been the one to say it in the first place—they had their own lives now. No point in dragging them into this.

But he does call Youji.

“Hey, Ryouta, what’s up?”

Suddenly, the words disappear. He starts shaking, and he knows he has to start talking, but if he starts talking then he has to acknowledge what 623 said and he _can’t._

“Ryouta?”

He can’t tell this man who took him in that his son might be—. How can he say, _I sent him away? I told him to go to his cousin?_

“Ryouta! What’s wrong? Where are you?”

“Youji-san,” Kise starts, and his own voice sounds broken. “Something— something bad might have happened.”

“ _Where are you?”_ Youji says again, and the panic is there, and a kind of urgency, like he’s already packing up and heading out the door.

“It’s my fault.” No one would ever want to hurt Kasamatsu Yukio, but GM-Y626 has too many enemies. 623 has a vendetta, and it’s all his fault. “I’m—I’m going to try to fix this, but I don’t know, Youji-san. I’m not a planner, you know? I can’t be like Kurokocchi. I can’t wait years for the right moment. I don’t know how to be smart.”

“Ryouta—”

“So, I figure, I might as well be really dumb, right?”

“Ryouta, _stop._ I can help you, just tell me where you are. We’ll figure this out together. Ryouta!”

Kise looks at the ocean. He wishes they were still in Kanagawa. “Thanks for the family, Youji-san. It was a lot of fun.”

He hangs up at the sound of Youji yelling on the other side, and he lets his phone fall out of his fingers.

There’s one last bit of coordination he needs to do.

*

He finds the mermen more or less where he left them (because they’re _useless_ and clearly never had to coordinate a mission before), and he shoves the leader against a nearby wall. “Tell me everything you know about Archer.”

Haruka only narrows his eyes, but the other two are already interceding, applying pressure on Kise, trying to pull him back.

“What are you doing?” Nagisa cries.

“Archer has Kasamatsu-senpai,” Kise snarls.

Nagisa’s hands drop to the side. “But—but Rei-chan was with him. What happened to Rei-chan?”

“I don’t care!” Kise howls. “Do you hear me? I don’t care about your friends. I’m going in there and getting him back. But I need to know everything about Archer. Why does he want you? Why hasn’t he killed your friends already?”

“Archer wouldn’t kill us,” Nagisa says, sounding shocked. The smaller boy flexes his fingers, distinctly unhappy with the way Kise’s focus has shifted. But he must recognize that he can’t stop Kise, and he’s coming to his own conclusions on how he can make this work. “We don’t know why Archer won’t let us be—probably because Haru-chan was always the strongest? But if he gets us again, that’s it. We’ll never be able to swim free again.”

Kise finds that he has zero sympathy if that’s the only reason they’re staying away. _His_ Generation didn’t run for freedom, they ran to survive. “OK,” he says, releasing his hold on Haru. “I can work with that.”

“What do you think you can do?” Nagisa demands. “You’re not like the others—it’s not like your ability is actually _useful_ in a fight.”

Kise refuses to flinch; he understands better than anyone just how worthless he is in a fight. Even _Momoi_ could probably do more damage with her ability.

“I’ll set myself on fire if I have to,” Kise says. “But one way or another, I’m walking in there, and either Kasamatsu-senpai is walking out with me, or I’m burning everything down.”

“You can’t just _walk_ in there,” Gou protests. “The Sagittarius-line will never let you in.”

“I’m not going to walk in there,” Kise glows yellow and shifts, so that he’s now an exact Copy of the surly blue-eyed boy. “ _You_ are. Just stay out of my way.”

He turns, but then someone catches his wrist. “Wait.”

Kise whirls to punch the person who dares to stop him going to Kasamatsu but Haru lets go immediately and says, “Go as Nagisa. I’m going in with you.”

*

Gou can’t help but think it’s a little frustrating that they spent _days,_ at this point, trying to convince Haru that he can’t just walk straight into Samezuka only to watch him leave now. She had _hoped_ the Yellow Six would have a plan—she’d hoped he could fix everything for them. Teiko was supposed to have godlike powers, weren’t they?

Only now, the Yellow Six looked just as desperate and reckless as Haruka, and they were deliberately letting themselves be caught, and what’s worse, she’s pretty sure _neither_ of them have a plan after that.

“Nagisa-kun,” she says, desperate. They’re fracturing; Makoto was taken, soon Haruka will be too, and maybe Rei—there’s no point in just the two of them being free.

“Rei-chan wasn’t taken,” Nagisa announces confidently. “If he had been, I would have felt it in the Relay.”

_Would_ he? Gou can’t Relay with the boys, beyond the simple telepathic communication they have when they’re close by. She doesn’t have Nagisa’s confidence the bond would work when they’re all separated like this.

“ _I_ would feel it,” Nagisa repeats. “That must mean he’s somewhere else. We should find Rei-chan, and then figure the rest out.”

*

There’s nothing Gou can do in this situation but follow Nagisa; he seems to think he can track Rei down.

She keeps thinking about what Rei said before they arrived here—“I think maybe I came from Iwatobi—maybe my parents are still there—” and they all went back because he was their friend, and this was important to him.

No one questioned _where_ Rei got that information—everyone just assumed he remembered something after all. It changes things, knowing Rei was talking to Rin.

(And _why_ had he been talking to Rin? Why wouldn’t Rin talk to _her?)_

There’s too many things to worry about right now—Makoto, Haruka, Rei, the imminent threat of capture—so she thinks about Rin, because thinking about her brother seems like the easiest point of focus.

*

She thinks about when they sent him away.

“I’ll get really strong and fast in Australia,” he said to her the night before he vanished from her life. “You’ll see—I’ll be the fastest swimmer around, and then there won’t be anything I can’t do.”

He’d seemed cheery enough, but she didn’t understand. Her only family in the world was leaving her behind.

It didn’t take her long to realize that she probably wasn’t ever going to see him again.

*

The others took her with them because, “That’s what Rin-chan would have wanted.”

“But I can’t Relay,” she said, feeling small and scared. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t Relay, and she was already noticing the way the older Capricorn-line looked at her with pity. The Sagittarius-line looked at her like she was less than dirt, and they talked about that ever important Ceremony that happened at fifteen and she _knew_ she wasn’t going to make it. She’d be one of the Lost—the locked away howlers, mad and mindless. Or she wouldn’t survive at all. Lot’s of people died during the Ceremony.

“That’s OK,” Makoto said, patting her on the head like Rin might have. “We won’t be able to Relay either—not without a fourth. We’ll just keep swimming, and we’ll stick together, and no one will ever be able to catch us.”

Truthfully, she hadn’t _wanted_ to leave, but she was the only one who _couldn’t_ stay. And anyway, without Rin, these three were the closest thing she had to a family. If they were going, she was going.

*

Gou was the one who said, “Please save Nii-san.” They were near Australia, and they could sense him there—or at least, Makoto, Haru and Nagisa could. Everyone who had Relayed with Rin before.

“We would have to Relay,” Makoto said, sounding apologetically. “And you can’t Relay with five people.”

“Then you should Relay with Rin-san,” Rei said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “I don’t mind.”

“Rei-chan!” Nagisa protested. Rei wasn’t a strong swimmer—he _needed_ the Relay to weather the ocean. Without the other three to support him, he might drown.

“I could never forgive myself if I was the reason you couldn’t save your friend,” Rin insisted. “You must do this.” And he smiled then, looking like an angel might when he smiled like that, and the others couldn’t refuse him anything, even when it put his life in danger.

*

No one talked about what they were going to do _after_ saving Rin. Gou and Rei could make their way to a boulder near the shore that jutted from the sea, clinging to it to while the others went to break Rin out—they waited for everyone to return. But no one wanted to talk about how they were going to handle the fact that a Relay couldn’t include five people.

“It—it must be hard for you, Gou-kun,” Rei said when they waited.

“Don’t add ‘kun!’” she scolded automatically. She wasn’t sure what to make of the rest of his statement.

“Do you ever—feel lonely?”

None of the boys had ever asked her that before.

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “But—I know everyone loves me, even if we can’t Relay. So I don’t mind all that much.”

It _was_ lonelier now that Rei was here. But she _couldn’t_ tell him that. It was lonely, but not because they could form a Relay again—although it did leave her out of so much—but because of the way it was clear everyone was pairing off. Makoto and Haru had been a pair _forever_ but something had been different between them ever since Hawaii. And Nagisa had clearly decided Rei belonged to him—you didn’t have to be in a Relay to guess what direction _they_ were heading in.

So she was lonely, not because she couldn’t Relay, but because she wasn’t in a pair.

“You must be excited to see your brother again.”

“I am!” she perked up at the thought, because it _would_ be nice to see him again.

*

Rin settled the whole problem of the Relay on his own.

“I’m going back to Samezuka.”

Haruka had been _so mad._ Even Gou felt betrayed by this. But Rin had insisted there was something he needed to do there.

Privately, Gou thought it must have something to do with Yamazaki Sousuke, and _that_ was a dangerous idea. Sousuke had always been very nice to her, but he _was_ a Yamazaki.

There was no point in trying to change Rin’s mind, though.

*

From then on, it was like Rin was a stranger. He resurfaced every now and then, mostly just to fight with Haru. They always had the same argument, with Rin trying to convince them to come back to Iwatobi, and Haru refusing to listen.

"It's not like we thought," Gou remembered Rin yelling one time. "We had it wrong the whole time—”

"Shut up," Haru hissed, "I don't want to hear it. The brainwashed you, but we're going to keep swimming free."

As much as Gou wanted to reunite with her brother, she never, ever wanted to go anywhere near Samezuka.

*

“Rei-chan!”

“Nagisa-kun, Gou-kun, we’ve been looking for you,” Rei has the audacity to sound surprised to see them.

“We—” Gou starts, but she stops as someone else steps in view. “Nii-san.”

“Hey Gou,” He says, grinning. “Long time no see.”

It’s too much—Rin smiling like everything is fine is _too_ much to deal with right now. “Idiot!” she cries, and then she bursts into tears.

“Gou!” Rin moves forward but she punches him in the shoulder.

“Idiot! Why did you bring us here? Now Makoto-senpai is gone—”

“—I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Rin protests.

“What did you _think_ would happen?” she shouts. “And now Haruka-senpai is gone too!”

“What? What happened to Haru?”

*

“That _idiot!_ ” Rin yells. “And you just _let_ him leave?”

“We couldn’t stop him _and_ the Yellow Six!” Nagisa says, puffing up his cheeks in annoyance.

“He’s going to ruin _everything_.”

“ _What_ everything?” Gou demands.

Rin halts his tirade and the anger abruptly flees as he looks down at her, a grave expression on his face.

“I wanted you here for a reason, Gou. There’s someone I want you to meet. There are people here that _all_ of you should meet.”

She doesn’t like the way he’s looking at her; she doesn’t like the way it feels like everything is about to change.

Nagisa tenses first, realizing before she did that they aren’t alone.

“It’s OK, Nagisa-kun, Gou-san,” Rei says, sounding happy. “Everything’s going to be OK.”

*

When his door slides open again, Kasamatsu leaps to his feet, not wanting to be caught off guard again.

“You’re awake,” Sousuke says, standing in the doorway, propping the door open.

Kasamatsu wonders if it’s really Sousuke. Would he be able to recognize the Jabberwocky Yellow Six if she came in any other form besides Kise? Was he able to recognize other Yellow Sixes, or was his ability just keyed into Kise?

For the first time, Kasamatsu is beginning to understand why Kise made people nervous.

Sousuke frowns at him. “Did Uncle Kenji do that to you?”

“What?” Kasamatsu’s voice is hoarse to his own ears, and he touches his neck. “Oh. No.” There isn’t a mirror in here, so he doesn’t know what he looks like, but he can guess. He winces as pain flares on his cheek and he remembers the way Kenji had slammed him down. “Well. Not all of it. This has been a violent night for me.”

Not Rui he decides. (The boy had called her Rui, so that must be her name).

“You—” Sousuke starts, then he stills, as if trying to control his own concern.

Kasamatsu eyes his cousin warily. Sousuke had told him to leave. He had clearly not wanted him in Iwatobi. And they’d shared a look before Sousuke left him alone with their uncle—like he’d been trying to warn Kasamatsu that Kenji wasn’t to be trusted. All in all, Kasamatsu would be inclined to think Sousuke is a good guy.

Except— _he_ carries a gun, and _he’s_ allowed in and out as he pleases.

“Sousuke, what happened to you?”

Sousuke’s lips tighten and he looks away, his face like stone. “There’s a lot of things about this family that you don’t understand, Yukio.”

That’s probably true—Kasamatsu is willing to bet that there’s a lot of things about this whole situation that he will _never_ be able to understand.

“Uncle Kenji wants to talk to you again,” Sousuke says abruptly. “Look—just lie, OK? If he asks you if you want to be part of the Legacy, just go along with it.”

“Because he’ll kill me if I don’t?” Kasamatsu says, his voice flat. He wants Sousuke to admit it—surely Sousuke _must_ know how fucked up this whole situation is.

“I don’t—I don’t think he’d do that,” Sousuke says, in a way that he must know is not very convincing. “But it’ll just be easier for you if he thinks you’re on his side.”

Kasamatsu bites down on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from responding. Instead, he just stares at his cousin. “And are _you?_ On his side?”

Sousuke tenses, and he looks away—not in a shameful way, but like he’s controlling his temper and giving himself a moment before answering. When he has composed himself, he meets Kasamatsu’s gaze straight on. “I can’t expect you to understand this life, but this is the only life I know, Yukio. It’s the life my _parents_ wanted for me. You love and honor your father. At least understand that I feel the same way about mine.”

*

Makoto doesn’t realize just how nice it was to have Kisumi as a buffer until he no longer has him. When a Sagittarius-line soldier comes for him, Kisumi isn’t around, and all Makoto can think about it how much he wishes there was someone else here between him and the cold expression of the soldier.

“Follow me,” she says, in that curt way the Sagittarius-line had in speaking. She isn’t physically imposing—Makoto is much taller than she is—but the appearance of a Sagittarius-line was always misleading. They were physically stronger and faster in every way and they excelled in all forms of combat. Makoto _feels_ smaller besides her. Out of the water, he doesn’t have a chance against her.

He follows her feeling wretched and meek, but soon enough he knows where they’re going—he can _feel_ it. Or rather, he can feel _him._

< _Haru!_ > He feels like crying—Haruka must be here, he must be inside Samezuka. And as much as he wants to see Haru again, he never wanted to see him _here._

< _Makoto! Where are you?_ >

Makoto doesn’t need to answer though, because the Sagittarius-line soldier manhandles him into a room. And there sits Haru _and_ Nagisa.

The Sagittarius-line grabs his shoulder and pushes him down, kicking his legs from underneath him, which prevents him from throwing himself at his friends. “Don’t move,” she commands. “Now that you’re all here, there’s no more need to play _nice_.” She handcuffs him to a chain that connects to the floor, and only then Makoto notices that Haru and Nagisa are also bound.

“What—what do you mean?” Makoto says. They’re _not_ all together. Rei isn’t here—but then he remembers they wouldn’t count Rei, and he hopes his friend is OK.

“You three are traitors,” she says harshly. “And you don’t get forgiveness that easy. If Archer didn’t need you for leverage, you’d be dead already, got that?”

“Leverage?” Makoto repeats. “Against who?”

She hits him in the jaw, causing Haru to urge forward murderously, only to pull against his restraints that keep him bound to the floor.

“Shut up. Not another word out of you until Archer gets here.”

After Makoto is restrained alongside his friends, the woman joins the other Sagittarius-line in the room, standing guard, making it very clear that this is a prison. The only thing that doesn’t make sense about this is why there was a pretense to begin with—why let Makoto roam around Samezuka like he was going to rejoin the fold? Why not imprison him from the start?

To get Haru, he realizes immediately after he forms the question. They would know about the Relay Bond. If Makoto was too distressed or unhappy, it would scare Haruka off.

< _Haru-chan, I told you to leave!_ >

< _Enough with the ‘chan,’_ > Haru says, which almost makes Makoto laugh. Only Haru would bring that up in this situation.

< _Whoa, what was that?_ > Nagisa says, causing Makoto to look at him. It occurs to him now that he didn’t feel Nagisa when he first came in, and only now starts receiving the feedback from the Relay-bond.

Which is weird. Makoto has Relayed with Nagisa for longer than anyone but Haruka; he should have felt the other boy instantly.

< _Haru, Nagisa, how did they catch you?_ > Makoto asks. < _What about Rei and Gou? Are they OK?_ >

< _They’re fine,_ > Haru says. < _We’re here for you, Makoto._ >

< _Is it you two?_ > Nagisa asks, his eyes wide. < _Are you guys talking?_ >

<It’s the Relay,> Haru explains, sounding annoyed. Makoto just frowns—why is Haru explaining the Relay to _Nagisa?_

_< Whoa,_> Nagisa says. < _Huh. I didn’t think…hey, I wonder if I have the gills too._ > Nagisa looks down at his hands and frowns at them. Then he shivers once, and the webbing forms, Nagisa’s familiar Capricorn-line pattern forming along his side. <Neat!>

“Hey, you quit that!” One of the guards snaps, causing Nagisa to jump, shifting back to his land form, startled.

< _Nagisa!_ > Makoto scolds. < _What is the matter with you?_ >

< _I’m not Nagisa_ ,> Nagisa replies.

Makoto opens his mouth then shouts it, before his reaction causes suspicion in the Sagittarius-line on guard.

< _He’s Teiko_ ,> Haru’s Relay is singularly filled with spite—if he been speaking, he would be seething. < _Ignore him. Makoto_ —>

< _ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!_ >

The new Relay isn’t closeby but it’s _loud._ Makoto almost hurts himself, whipping his head up so fast.

< _Rin? >_ Rin being here is almost as weird as the Teiko Project, although maybe it shouldn’t be. They had known Rin was going back to Samezuka.

< _You just…be caught. You…ruin!!...Haru_ —>

< _We can’t hear you!_ > Makoto cries. < _Where are you? Are you inside Samezuka?_ >

< _No, I’m…ocean_. >

Their Relay bond with Rin had been strong when they were younger, and it’s because of that strength that they can hear him at all now. He must be right outside the facility. But from that distance, it’s a wonder they can hear him at all.

< _Who’s this guy?_ > Nagisa says.

( _Not_ Nagisa, Makoto reminds himself, even if he sounds and feels just like Nagisa through the Relay.)

< _No time!_ > Rin says, before Makoto gets the chance to explain < _When…the chance to escape…don’t…water…the woods_. >

< _What?_ > Makoto says. He reaches out to touch Haru and Nagisa instinctively: touch helps sometimes and this _was_ their original Relay, the first Relay they ever formed. That bond doesn’t go away.

< _When you get the chance to escape, don’t go to the water._ > Rin says, finally clear. < _Run to the woods_. >

< _What? That makes no sense_ —> A sharp yank at his collar causes Makoto to go flying back.

“You’re doing that freaky Capricorn-line thing!” One of the male Sagittarius-line soldiers accuses. “Stop that! If you do that again—”

Nagisa spins on the floor, kicking upwards as he does so, knocking the Sagittarius-line to the ground with a smooth efficiency. In a bright flash of yellow it’s not Nagisa anymore, but a yellow-haired man Makoto has never met.

“Right then,” the stranger says, yanking the chain from out of the floor. “That’s my cue.”

Makoto has seen Sagittarius-line move before—fast and inhuman, they can take down their opponents in less time it would take most people to tie a shoe. But Makoto can barely keep up with the following sequence of events. The guards raise their guns but the Yellow Six moves _fast._ In seconds, he Copies the Sagittarius-line he’d kicked, and moves with the same agility they possess, only with more finely-tuned fighting instincts, and in no time at all the other guards are in the ground, incapacitated.

The Copy has one of their guns—Makoto’s not even sure when he had the time to free himself from his bindings—and he’s pointing his gun at one of the fallen Sagittarius-line, and his finger is on the trigger—

“Don’t kill them!” Makoto cries, surging forward. He’s still restrained, so he doesn’t get very far, but he struggles against his bindings anyway. “Don’t—it’s not their fault they’re loyal! Don’t—”

The look in the Copy’s eyes silences him—it’s so cold and vicious that the words disappear completely. He’s only ever seen that look in Archer’s eyes—the expression of someone who knows he is superior in all ways and knows nothing could ever stop him. The look of a killer.

“They wouldn’t hesitate to shoot _you,_ ” the Copy says.

Makoto shrinks. “Yes, but, they’re still family, sort of, they’re still—”

“Fine,” the Copy cuts off. He reaches down and grabs the keys from the fallen Sagittarius-line. “Do what you want. Here’s your chance to escape. I’m going after Senpai.”

“Who?” Makoto turns to Haru, confused.

Haruka grabs him by the collar and pulls him down, kissing him with biting intensity. Makoto’s muffled exclamation, “Haru!” is lost in between the spaces of the kiss.

“He’s not important,” Haru says when they break away. “We have to get out of here.”

“But—where do we go?” They weren’t _safe_ on land. Rin _knew_ that. In water, no one was faster than Haru, but on land he was painfully slow. In water, Makoto was stronger than almost any opponent, but everything could overpower him on land. In water, they could disappear.

And. And they didn’t know which side Rin was on. Not really. He’d chosen Samezuka over them before.

Haru’s lips are a thin line, but other than that, there’s no indication whatsoever what he’s thinking about. Haru was _never_ comfortable unless he was in water. _And_ his water-land ratio was painfully high. Makoto’s not sure how long it’s been since he was last in water, but whenever that was, he can’t possibly have much time left.

“The woods,” Haru says. “We’ll go to the woods.”

*

Kasamatsu finds himself (once again) left alone with his Uncle Kenji. Sousuke (once again) having left them at Kenji’s orders, this time not glancing back to Kasamatsu at all.

“Who hurt you, Yukio-kun?” Kenji asks, his voice soft.

Kasamatsu scowls and doesn’t reply. He’s not sure why, but he doesn’t want to get the other Yellow Six in trouble. Maybe because she reminds him too much of Kise.

“Yukio-kun, I am not your enemy.”

This doesn’t deserve a response either. He just looks at the older man and conveys all his outrage and scorn.

Instead of lashing out, Kenji just looks at him meditatively and then commands, “Follow me.”

*

Kasamatsu follows, wondering if his life is in danger. He has been imprisoned, and threatened, and choked, but it honestly doesn’t seem like this man means him harm.

Yet.

The people they pass defer to Kenji. They’re soldiers—Kasamatsu thinks there’s not much difference between how they move and how his father’s colleagues move around the JSDF base. Occasionally they have bright eyes or strange colored hair, but except for that, there is nothing that makes them seem _other,_ not like the Teiko Projects.

Kenji brings him to a solemn room that reminds Kasamatsu slightly of a Christian church. There is an altar at front, and rows of pews. It’s empty now, which make it feel all the more eerie. Sacred, but also irreverent, like some strange liminal space where the blasphemous and the profound exist at the same time.

“This is where we are judged, and born anew,” Kenji says, touching the altar reverently. “This is where we take our young Initiates and test them to see if they are worthy of our legacy.” There is a very fancy box in the middle of the altar, which Kenji opens and pulls out an ornate blade. He holds the knife like it’s something precious, not like he means to use it as a weapon. Kasamatsu fixates on the blade and he knows without any proof that it must have something to do with the “test” Kenji mentioned.

“And if they’re not?” Kasamatsu challenges.

“Some don’t survive the Ceremony,” Kenji says earnestly. “Their bodies are not strong enough, and they die. Some live, but are overcome with madness. We care for them the best we can. But the ones who _do_ make it emerge stronger and better in every way. They begin to learn about their history and they understand. This is what your father stole from you, Yukio-kun. With your inferior blood, I am not sure you could have made it, but you had the right to be tried, as all our children do. When Youji ran away he was not just ruining _his_ Legacy, but that of his children’s. Do you really want to make his mistakes?”

Kasamatsu clenches his fists.

_Lie,_ Sousuke had said. And it was good advice. Really good advice.

“My mother was not inferior,” Kasamatsu snarls.

Kenji only raises his brows at this outburst.

“And _she_ would be the first one to say this isn’t how you keep a legacy. You don’t get to pick and choose the best and let the rest die out. That’s the most fucked up thing I’ve ever heard. You’re _just_ like Teiko and its bullshit.”

Teiko killed _their_ weak. The ones who weren’t “Successes.” And whatever this _Ceremony_ is—maybe they don’t actually kill them but putting them in the position where they might die was the same thing, wasn’t it?

“I’m offering you the chance to be part of something great,” Kenji says harshly. “You will _never_ get this chance again, do you understand?”

“I don’t want your kind of greatness,” Kasamatsu says, his voice flat. “I want nothing to do with you.”

The two stare at each other for a long moment.

“Pity,” Kenji says. He puts the knife back in the very fancy box. “Your father never had this chance. He was too unworthy to even have the offer. You’re a bigger fool than he was.”

“I imagine if he had the opportunity he would have told you the same thing.”

“You’re probably right. Still. This puts me in an awkward position, you see. I can’t just let you go, not with what you know. And I find I am no longer tolerant of Youji’s misbehavior. I will have to put you with the rest of the Lost.”

Kasamatsu translates this to “the place we keep everyone who goes insane from our fucked up ceremony.”

The tension in Kasamatsu’s body must be exactly what a rubberband about to snap feels like. He’s positively shaking with how much he hates this man and everything he stands for and also how badly he wants to punch this guy. (He doesn’t. He learned his lesson last time).

“You’re not going to get away with this,” he says, knowing just how clichéd that sounds even as he says it.

Kenji looks amused and condescending—he knows how clichéd it sounds too. “Really, Yukio-kun, there’s no need to be so melodramatic or trite.”

“You’re not,” he says again, with a firm conviction that finally calms some of the tension in his body. He doesn’t continue, he’s not going to say _why_ even if Kenji asks. But he knows down to his very bones that there is a very good reason why Kenji is not going to get away with his plans.

And that reason comes bursting through the door, before Kenji can ask Kasamatsu why he’s so sure.

_“Senpai!”_

*

The shot fires before anyone has the chance to react, hitting Kenji right in the shoulder.

“Kise!” Kasamatsu cries, seeing the stranger glow yellow and shift to the face Kasamatsu knows and loves best.

“Thank all the gods,” Kise says, grabbing Kasamatsu and pulling him into a fierce, possessive kiss. It’s a quick but passionate kiss—full of desperation and homecoming on both sides and Kasamatsu is surprised by the intensity of his own longing in that moment.

“Come on,” Kise says, pulling Kasamatsu forward. “We have to go.”

But he doesn’t get the chance to respond, because Kenji is shooting at them.

*

Kise pushes Kasamatsu down and fires his own gun as he moves forward to meet Kenji in combat. Kise, Kasamatsu recalls numbly, always prefers to fight up close if he can.

Kasamatsu has seen Kise spar before—the soldiers on base had always liked to practice with Kise—so he’d thought he’d had a pretty good sense for Kise’s fighting abilities.

That’s how Kasamatsu knows something’s seriously wrong when Kenji not only fights back on even footing—it appears like he’s _winning._

Kenji, bleeding from his wound, never let out so much as a shout upon the injury. He fights with what should be a disadvantage except he doesn’t seem phased at all. He’s faster and stronger, knocking Kise to the ground, sending him flying across the room to hit the wall with a soul-shattering “thud.”

“Kise!” Kasamatsu shouts, surging forward—to do _what_ he’s not sure; instinct drives him to Kise—only to be met with the impact of Kenji’s first, knocking him to the ground.

“So,” Kenji says, running his hand through his hair to smooth it in place, then bending down to pick up the gun Kise had knocked to the ground. When he looks back at Kasamatsu, there is madness glinting there.

“You’re just like your father after all. You have his same perversion.  I should have known better than to think that fag could have better sons.”

_What?_ Kasamatsu’s head is still ringing from the blow, and he’s still worried about Kise, who isn’t moving from across the room, but the ugliness of the word catches his attention and he’s thoroughly confused.

He can’t properly wonder why Kenji might think Youji was gay, because now Kenji has the gun pointed straight at him, and Kasamatsu has more important things to be concerned about.

Now, all he can see is the gun.

“I should have culled the line a long time ago,” Kenji says.

And then he pulls the trigger.


	6. Chapter 6

Gunshots are louder than can be properly conveyed through movies and television; and near death experiences aren’t quite what fiction had led Kasamatsu to believe either. Time doesn’t slow down, his life doesn’t flash before his eyes; he doesn’t even fully understand was happening until it’s clear that it’s no longer happening.

That is to say, he’d fixated on the gun pointed right at him, he’d watched Kenji pull the trigger, but he doesn’t really think, _Holy crap he_ shot _me!_ Until he realizes that he has not, in fact, been shot. The bullet that would have killed him remains suspended in air, as if time _had_ stopped, only it’s now glowing green.

Heart beating erratically fast from his brush with death, Kasamatsu turns his head to where Kise had fallen. Only it’s not Kise on the ground anymore, it’s Midorima, glowing green.

The bullet falls useless to the ground and the gun goes flying out of Kenji’s hand. Kasamatsu has to keep staring, because he’s not even fully sure what he’s bearing witness to right now.

_Yellow Sixes were_ supposed _to have Perfect Copy, and that includes being able to Copy the other Projects._

“Midorima” glows yellow, returning to Kise, only to instantly change to Aomine. Glowing blue, he slams into Kenji in an instant, knocking him clear across the room. Seconds later, it’s Murasakibara standing there, glowing purple, and when he throws Kenji again it knocks a hole in the wall. Kise, with Murasakibara’s abilities, starts a rampage, knocking down walls, shaking the earth.

_He’s clearing a path_ , Kasamatsu thinks, getting up to follow Kise’s destruction. His mind whirls as he tries to imagine the implication of this new development of Perfect Copy. There’s no doubt in Kasamatsu’s mind that right now, Kise is the most powerful being on this earth.

There’s also little doubt that it’s going to fade fast. He can see the sweat on Murasakibara’s form and he _knows_ Kise—Kise won’t be able to keep this up, not for long. And when he’s done, he’s done.

The Samezuka soldiers are pouring in, guns raised, flocking to the destruction. Kise abandons Murasakibara’s form and then it’s Akashi standing there, glowing red. “Throw down your weapons and surrender,” he Orders. “You will not attack me or this man. You will not do anything. You will sit here and not move.”

The soldiers drop their guns instantly and sit down.

Kise, still in Akashi’s form, grabs Kasamatsu’s hand and pulls him forward. “Come on, Kasamatsu-san. We do not have much time.”

Kasamatsu shivers—it wasn’t an Order, but it sounded too much like Akashi. They take off running and Kasamatsu wonders just how much of Kise will be left after all this.

*

Kise collapses near the ocean shore—still too close to Samezuka for any kind of comfort. He’s back in his own form and breathing heavy. Kise tries to get to his feet but stumbles.

“Kise!” Kasamatsu shouts.                                                      

“Go on without me!” Kise says, trying to move, but it’s clear his legs aren’t obeying him. He’s shaking all over, sweating heavily, looking near death.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Kasamatsu says, lifting Kise up and wrapping an arm around his waist, like he did after the Seirin game. They hobble together, but it isn’t easy.

“Senpai, just leave me,” Kise begs. “I’ll be OK, but—”

“Just shut up!” Kasamatsu growls, concentrating on moving forward. He can’t lose Kise, not like this, not when it’s Kasamatsu’s fault that Kise’s even here. “We’re getting out of this together.”

A force slams into both of them, knocking them to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Kasamatsu is yanked forward, a knife pressed to his neck.

“Beautiful sentiment, _Senpai,_ ” Rui snarls. “And now you can both die together, isn’t that great?”

“Jabberwocky!” Kise snarls, struggling to his feet.

Rui kicks him in the face. “I am so sick of you, Miracle.”

“Very good, Rui,” Kenji says, coming up from behind them. Kasamatsu can’t even believe it—shot, knocked over with Murasakibara’s strength, this guy shouldn’t even be _alive_ right now, much less still standing.

He _does_ seem weakened, which is something. Bleeding, bruised, and slightly limping, he is at least not completely unscathed. But he’s also _armed_ and still calm, and Kasamatsu is seriously beginning to wonder what it would take to kill this guy.

“Thank you for stalling them, Rui. Release my nephew now.”

“Yes, Archer,” Rui says, sounding reluctant as she obeys. Kasamatsu immediately goes to Kise as Rui heads for Kenji’s side.

“Thank you,” Kenji says again, and then he shoots her in the stomach.

*

“Are you crazy?” Kasamatsu howls, moving forward only to be knocked back down with a kick to his chest from Kenji. “She’s on _your_ side!”

“I have decided it is no longer wise to keep a Teiko creature at my side,” Kenji says calmly. He shifts his gun to Kise. “In fact, I’m beginning to think it was a mistake to let any of you monsters live.”

Kasamatsu move in front of Kise, between him and the gun. Kenji just raises a brow, amused, because he’s already determined that Kasamatsu is another one of those creatures he can’t allow to live anymore.

“Senpai,” Kise protests, trying feebly to push Kasamatsu away. “Not Senpai, please, no.”

“It’s OK,” Kasamatsu murmurs. It’s OK. If this is how it ends, then it ends. He has some vague hope Kise can still make it out of this, but…

A shot rings out, and once again, Kasamatsu is not dead, even though he was sure death was coming.

Kenji’s hand is bleeding, his gun on the ground (which Kise has the presence of mind to immediately kick away), and there, like an avenging angel, stands Youji, pointing a gun at his older brother’s forehead.

“Get the hell away from my sons.”

*

Samezuka is in chaos, and all Sousuke can think about is, _This is it._

He’d been informed of Haruka and Nagisa’s capture, and it seems like only a few minutes passed before he was informed that they had once again escaped.

“Gear up,” Mikoshiba orders. “We’re bringing them back. They can’t have gotten far.”

Sousuke quickly scans through the others selected for this mission—he’s surprised by the presence of Ai and Momo, who are surely too inexperienced for missions just yet—but only comments on the glaring absence: “We’re not bringing any Capricorn-line? How are we going to pursue them?”

“They’re heading inland,” Mikoshiba says, and a feeling of dread turns in Sousuke’s stomach.

_Rin_. Surely only Rin could convince Haru not to head towards water.

This is exactly the apocalyptic collision Sousuke had feared, and he’s still caught up in the momentum of the crash.

But he obeys his captain’s orders, and follows.

*

About a hundred feet away from the facility, they hear the explosions, and the earth starts to shake slightly.

“Samezuka is under attack!” Momotarou shouts, turning around to dart back.

Mikoshiba grabs him by his elbow. “We have our orders.”

“But—”

“If Archer needs us, he’ll call us back. Until then we obey our standing orders, got it?”

“Right,” Momotarou shrinks under his brother’s rebuke.

They continue tracking the escaped Capricorn-line.

*

Something isn’t right, and Sousuke should probably say something, but he doesn’t. There’s only evidence that they’re pursuing two people, not three. And the Capricorn-line wouldn’t have left someone behind. (But maybe this has something to do with the explosions back at Samezuka. There’s something else going on here, and Sousuke doesn’t know what. For no reason at all, he thinks maybe it has something to do with Kasamatsu).

“There!” Ai calls, pointing.

It’s Haru and Makoto, running deeper into the woods. A Capricorn-line couldn’t outrun Sagittarius-line, not on land; there wasn’t any chance of escape.

Mikoshiba raises his gun and fires a warning shot. Makoto trips at the sound and Haru has to stop to pull him back up. “Stop!” Mikoshiba commands; and it’s almost like a plea and a promise—he doesn’t _want_ to shoot them, but he will.

Another shot rings out, and this time the Sagittarius-line soldiers duck for cover on instinct.

“ _You_ stop,” a terrifyingly familiar voice snarls back.

And it’s Rin, of course it’s Rin, standing in front of his friends, a lone protector, with a gun fixed on Mikoshiba.

“Matsuoka?” Mikoshiba says. He comes out into the open, gun still raised, and the others follow his example. “You’re crazy, man. You’re outgunned.”

In that moment all Sousuke can fixate on is the fact that Mikoshiba’s gun is pointing directly at Rin.

“Not quite,” Sousuke says, positioning his gun to the back of Mikoshiba’s head. “Put it down, Captain.”

“ _Yamazaki?”_ Mikoshiba says incredulously, even as everyone else’s gun turns automatically to Sousuke. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Sousuke’s eyes meet Rin’s.

“Choosing a side.”

*

The situation is a bit absurd. Mikoshiba and Rin with guns raised at each other, Sousuke with his gun on Mikoshiba, everyone else with their gun on Sousuke. They’re about three seconds away from an absolute bloodbath.

“Yamazaki, think this through,” Mikoshiba growls. “There’s no coming back from this.”

“I hit the point of no return a long time ago,” Sousuke says simply.

“You’re _both_ idiots,” Mikoshiba says, still looking at Rin. “Matsuoka, there’s no way this ends well for you. Just be smart, will you? No one has to die. You’re outnumbered.”

Rin’s grin is particularly shark-like when he says, “Actually, I was just about to say the same thing to you.”

A series of clicks surrounds them—the familiar sound of guns being cocked—and out of the woods from all sides there are people, guns raised, surrounding the Sagittarius-line completely and from all angles.

“Now drop your weapons,” Rin says.

For two heartbeats, no one breathes.

Then Mikoshiba “tsks” with his tongue and drops his gun, raising his hands to behind his head. The others follow suit.

“Who _are_ you people?” Momotarou asks, eyes wide.

A black-haired man steps forward. “We are the Ophiuchus-line.”

*

Makoto isn’t sure what exactly is happening right now. First, they were running into the woods, and then they were being shot at, and now they’re surrounded by all kinds of armed people and they have the look of Samezuka, except they’re inexplicably on their side.

The Sagittarius-line who had pursued them are sitting on the ground now, disarmed and at the mercy of these people who have declared themselves to be a Legacy-line that doesn’t exist. They’re clearly Sagittarius-line or Capricorn-line, so their name doesn’t even make sense. There’s only twelve lines and there’s no such thing as Ophiuchus.

“Makoto?” A brown-haired woman pushes her way through the crowd. “Makoto? Is it really you?”

“Yes?” Makoto answers, suddenly unsure, and a little afraid. This woman looks so familiar and she has a hand to her mouth, as if to prevent a sob from escaping.

She throws her arms around him and holds him tightly. “You’re so big now! I can’t—my baby, I missed you so much.”

His heart is beating faster now, and he still feels scared, even if he doesn’t understand what’s happening. He’s completely frozen under her touch. A tall man hovers behind her, looking like he also wants to throw himself at Makoto, but holds back. “Who—who—” he can’t even bring himself to ask the question.

She sniffs and pulls away to look at him. Her eyes are filled with tears, but she’s smiling widely. “I’m your mother. My darling, I’ve been searching for you for so long.”

“I don’t understand,” Makoto says, in a very small voice. His eyes move to Haru on instinct, unsure of what this new world would mean for him. Haru is clearly wary, as he glares at these new intruders with guns.

“Haru-chan! Mako-chan!” Nagisa says, bounding over. “They’re our parents! We have _parents!_ Isn’t that great?”

Makoto looks past Nagisa to the blonde couple who watch him nervously—like he might disappear on them at any second. Just past them is Rei, moving to the front, with his own pair of concerned adults trailing behind him.

“Why should we believe you?” Haru says, hostility eking out.

“DNA testing exits, if that’s something that matters to you,” the dark haired man who had come to the front says dryly. And Makoto doesn’t need a DNA test—the man looks so much like an older version of Haruka it would be absurd to contest the relation. “They started taking Capricorn-line children away from their parents because they felt threatened by our existence. We don’t need a Ceremony to gain our abilities, and that makes the Elders nervous.”

“They wouldn’t do that!” Ai protests from his position on the ground. He’s watching this reunion, wide eyed and close to tears. “Archer and the other Elders—they care about family, they wouldn’t—”

“Did you never wonder why Capricorn-line lived in Samezuka, Ai?” Sousuke says gently. "Or why you only ever saw the children?"

“But—” Momotarou says, looking unsure. “But they wouldn’t—”

“It is why we broke from them,” Haruka’s father says. “It’s why Ophiuchus-line exists. They took our children away from us, they took all our choices away from us. We are the Legacy-line who do not agree with the way the Elders run things.”

“It’s why Archer wanted _you_ guys so badly,” Rin says, coming up from behind them. “All your parents are rebels; Archer needed the leverage.”   

“You could have just told us,” Haru says with a scowl.

“I tried, a fair amount of times. You never listened,” Rin returns. Haru’s scowl only deepens.

“What are you going to do with us?” Mikoshiba demands.

“We don’t keep prisoners, young man,” Haru’s father says. “If you want to go back to Samezuka, you are free to do so. Or you could join us, if you like. It is not just Capricorn-line who disagree with the way the Legacy does things. We have members from all twelve lines. Ophiuchus-line does not believe in _hurting_ the Legacy, we just don’t agree with your way of life.”

“That’s bullshit,” Mikoshiba says, sounding angry. “If you’re so peaceful, why are your men attacking Samezuka right now?”

“We’re not,” Rin says, confused. 

After a bit of an awkward pause, Nagisa says, “Er, that’s probably the Teiko Project. He was pretty determined.”

“ _Teiko,”_ Sousuke and Haru’s father exclaim at the same time.

“Why would _Teiko_ attack Samezuka?” Sousuke asks. Makoto turns to stare at his friends, since this is _also_ something he’s been wondering about.

“Uh, Archer took his friend, I guess?” Nagisa says.

“Kasamatsu-san? You didn’t mention that!” Rei says, alarmed. “What happened to Kasamatsu-san?”

“Kasa—you mean _Yukio?_ ” Sousuke exclaims. “My cousin? Crap, you mean the Teiko Yellow Six was with—his basketball kouhai, of course.” He shakes his head. “I better go back.”

“Sousuke—” Rin starts.

“It’s—my cousin is there, Rin. And I don’t trust Kenji not to—” he trails off, still reluctant to admit how crazy his uncle could be.

“This would be Yamazaki Youji’s son, then?” Haruka’s father asks speculatively.

“Why?” Sousuke asks, warily.

“No reason,” Haru’s dad says. “We’ll come with you.”

“What?” Rin yelps.

“If a Teiko Project is picking a fight with Kenji, this is something I want to see,” the man says simply.

*

“Youji,” Kenji says, the resigned loathing very apparent in his voice, “I really should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“You tried, Kenji,” Youji says, his voice a tad patronizing, “Now, get the hell away from my children, or I _will_ kill you.”

Kise’s whole body is tense during this standstill. He wants to get Kasamatsu out of here, but his stupid legs aren’t cooperating and also he feels completely exhausted. All he can do is stare at these two men. Youji’s voice is incredibly level, his gun pointed with pinpoint accuracy at the center of Kenji’s forehead.

There are things about his father that Kasamatsu might not know, but Kise does. He knows Youji is an incredible shot; he knows Youji is serious right now about killing his older brother; he knows Youji probably wouldn’t even lose a night’s sleep over it.

Kise would approve of all of these things, ordinarily. But—and this is incredibly sentimental of him, considering his upbringing—he’d rather Kasamatsu didn’t watch his father kill a man. (He thinks this must be why Kenji is still alive. Youji must not want that either. Kise suspects if Kasamatsu wasn’t around as a witness, the first shot would have already gone through Kenji’s head instead of his hand).

“I’m not going to tell you again,” Youji says.

This feels like one of those forever moments—the sort of thing that changes everything from here on out. Whatever happens next, there’s no going back from this. Kise tenses, ready to spring back into action if need be. He’s still weak from the new version of Perfect Copy earlier, and to be honest, he has this vague feeling that if he tries anything now that might be it for him. White pushed her power too much and died from it. He knows better than to test his limits.

But.

But Youji has a gun fixed on his brother, and they’re not out of danger yet.

“I’d listen to your brother, Sagittarius,” a new voice says, and Kise tenses. Youji, like the trained soldier he is, does not lose focus on the more immediate threat.

Kise looks, and there’s a whole _crowd_ approaching, with guns pointed squarely on Archer. Kise recognizes the mermen from before. They aren’t armed, but trailing behind everyone anxiously.

“Ophiuchus,” Kenji says, with only slightly less pronounced disdain than when his younger brother suddenly appeared. “Sousuke-kun? Are you betraying your family as well?”

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Uncle Kenji,” the man Kise guesses is Kasamatsu’s cousin replies, at the side of these new rebels. “We don’t have to stick so rigidly to tradition. Capricorn-line proves there is another way. We could—”

“No,” Kenji says harshly. “Without our traditions, we are _nothing_.” He steps back and places a hand over his heart. “I would rather see our Legacy destroyed than perverted entirely.”

Youji—Youji, who out of everyone here probably has the least idea about what’s happening; Youji who was there when the first Teiko burned and still remembers—it is Youji who reacts first, instinctively guessing rather than knowing just what it is Kenji meant by that statement. He fires his gun before anyone else even knows what’s happening.

Unfortunately, there are other people who remember Teiko here as well. Jabberwocky moves faster than a wounded person should be able to, taking another bullet in the shoulder as she shields Kenji. “Run, Archer.”

Kenji doesn’t need to run. He hits a button, somewhere kept close to his chest, and distantly the Samezuka facility explodes.

*

“There are _children_ in there!” the black haired man called “Ophiuchus” yells.

Kise stares at the fire in horror, unable to move.

_I think, it would perhaps be_ kinder _if we do not get involved with those other facilities._

Kuroko was always right about everything.

The men and women who had appeared are all moving to Samezuka.

_I Ordered them not to move,_ Kise thinks, horrified. _It’s happening all over again and this time it’s all my fault._

“Are you boys OK?” Youji demands, rushing forward to touch both their shoulders.

“Yes, we’re fine. Go help them,” Kasamatsu replies, when it’s clear that Kise can’t speak.

“OK,” Youji says, handing Kise a gun. “If you see my coward brother again, just shoot him, no hesitation.”

He runs towards the burning building. Distantly, Kise hears sirens; first responders already on their way. “Senpai,” he says, turning to the man he loves, feeling lost.

“Can you help?” Kasamatsu demands.

“I’m useless—” he stops, and thinks, _but Aominecchi could help._ Which means there’s something he _must_ do. “Yes,” he says. Because no matter what he yelled at Jabberwocky, no matter what he said to the merman, he _does_ care. He’s always cared.

And he can’t let this happen again.

“Senpai, Yukio, I love you.”

He doesn’t wait to hear Kasamatsu’s response—he thrusts the gun into Kasamatsu's hands and then shifts into Aomine Daiki.

Using the last of his strength, he starts to glow blue.

*

_He’s going to kill himself,_ Kasamatsu realizes, horrified. But he couldn’t stop Kise, even if he wanted to, because he knows what it’s like to be useless.

It’s what he’s feeling _now_ , watching everyone move to fight the fire.

He has the immediate impulse to run to the fire and help, but the thought that he’d only be in the way keeps him in place.

The gun feels heavy in his hands, and he’s not even sure what the point of giving it to him was. It’s not like _he_ could shoot someone.

Kenji disappeared after the explosion anyhow, taking the distraction to make his exit. He glances around to see if there’s any trace of the man, and a flash of yellow catches his eye, as he sees the crumpled form of the Jabberwocky Yellow Six.

He runs over to her, even knowing that she’s tried to kill him a couple of times. “Rui?” he calls out, and he holds out a hand to help her up.

She spits in his hand and leaps away from him, holding her stomach. “Get away from me.”

He just lets his hand hover there; he’s never been spat on before, and it’s a bit of a shock (although, not necessarily a surprise). “Let us help you,” he says calmly. “You need a doctor.”

She’s been shot twice; once in the gut and once in the shoulder. And unlike Kise, she doesn’t heal by shifting her form.

“Spare me,” she snarls. “You haven’t won, you know that, right? As long as Archer is out there, he’s going to destroy you and all of Generation Miracle.”

Kasamatsu opens his mouth but no sound comes out; finally, he manages, “How can you still be loyal to that guy? He _shot_ you.”

“He shot me because of Miracle,” she says, her lips twisting. “It’s always because of Miracle. He destroys everything.”

“Rui,” he starts. She looks _so_ much like Kise in this moment. Not just because they have a similar face; the sheer anger and contempt for the world reminds him so much of Kise when they first met.

“But Archer—Archer isn’t going to let this go. Now that he understands what a threat Generation Miracle is, he’s going to _crush_ them. As soon as he gets his hands on an immune human there won’t be _anything_ that can stop him.” She lunges forward, startling Kasamatsu so much that he stumbles. She doesn’t follow him down—she runs away, shifting to a nondescript man. If he wants to stop her, the only thing he could do is shoot her.

And there’s really no way that would ever happen. So he just watches her leave.

*

Kise’s first priority is to move everyone who is closest to the fire. And he’s running (no pun intended) largely on instinct and adrenaline; if he stops to think about anything he’ll stop altogether, and then he’s done.

_Move the people, stop the fire. Move the people, stop the fire._ The people are moved, but how to stop the fire?

Brown, Brown could stop the fire—that’s what Browns _did_. But Brown was dead, and surely he couldn’t—but maybe, maybe—

“No, Ryouta. You’ve done well enough. Any more, and you might die.”

The voice snaps through the cloud of desperation and anxiety, and he can only focus on that voice he’s obeyed all his life. “Akashicchi?”

“Leave the rest to me,” Akashi says, bracing Kise when he starts to sway and collapse. His concentration broken, he loses control of his Copy and reverts back to his original form as he starts to collapse. Akashi catches him and holds him up.

“What are—what are you—” He’s lost the ability to think. “The fire! We have to—”

“The firefighters are handling that quite well, now that there is no one left in the building. It was not a large fire; the damage has been contained nicely.”

“And—?”

“No one has died, Ryouta. You were very impressive.”

“Oh, good,” Kise sways again, glad to have Akashi’s support. There are people shouting, and it seems easier to just focus on them than to form his own thoughts.

“—I leave you alone for ten minutes! Ten minutes to park a helicopter! And you’re running into burning buildings!”

“Calm down, Masa-chan.”

“I am calm! Jesus Christ, Youji, do you know what this place _is?_ ”

“Well, no, I’m a little confused on that, to be honest.”

“Thanks for your help, Yamazaki-kun, but there’s a whole lot of reporters coming, and we don’t want to have to answer questions.”

“It’s Kasamatsu now—Nanase? That you?”

“Yes, it’s been awhile.”

“And Tachibana? What the hell, is this a high school reunion?”

“Yes, and we’d love to catch up, but again, _reporters_ and _questions_ that will be _really awkward to answer_ right now.”

Youji glances at a group of terrified children who have gills. “Right. Well then. You _will_ fill me in later?”

“Of course, but I don’t see how that’s going to help us _now._ The reporters—”

“Not a problem. Masa-chan?”

“Ugh, _fine_ , I’ll yell at you more later. Seijuurou! You take the ones on the left!”

“Yes, Father,” Akashi says. Youji comes over to take over supporting Kise, as Akashi moves to the crowd of oncoming reporters.

“Are you OK?” Youji asks urgently.

“Mmkay. I’m gonna pass out now.”

“That’s fine. I’m going to put you in the corner here, alright? I need to make sure Yukio is safe.”

“OK,” Kise says. _Yukio_. He wants Kasamatsu here. Then everything _would_ be OK.

That’s his last thought before, as promised, he passes out.


	7. Chapter 7

“He was…he was just going to let everyone _die,_ ” Mikoshiba says, as he’s been saying; numb from the aftermath of the fire. “There were little kids in there. _Babies_ were in there.”

“Maybe not,” Rei offers. He’s not sure _why_ he’s defending Archer. Maybe because Sousuke is standing right there and can hear them; maybe because he feels a little sorry for the Sagittarius-line soldiers. They’ve been abandoned by their leader, and they all seem a little shellshocked at the moment. “The explosion was very limited, and easily contained. If Archer had wanted to destroy everyone, he would have—that is to say, it could have been a lot worse.”

Mikoshiba shakes his head, but he doesn’t say anything. Most of the Samezuka facility is still intact, but Mikoshiba Seijuurou’s life has been completely destroyed anyway. There’s no way he can go back to the world he knew.

And even if Rei feels like that’s a life that _should_ be upended, even if he feels like things can surely only improve for Mikoshiba and the other Samezuka residents from here on out, he can still empathize with how lost they must be feeling right now.

It’s also easy for him to feel such sympathy for their confusion and sorrow because _he_ is currently incredibly happy.

He has _parents._ They _all_ have parents.

It still seems so unreal. When Rin brought him to the Ophiuchus base of operations, he wasn’t expecting the tearful couple who immediately embraced him. And the sight of them tagged at the frayed ends of his broken memory, so familiar it _hurt_ that he couldn’t remember them.

“That’s alright,” his mother said. “We’re just so glad to get you back. We have all the time in the world to fill in the blanks.”

“So—you’re with the rebels?” he’d asked later, after the initial shock had passed.

“We’re human,” his father had replied, almost sounding apologetic about the fact. “But we were searching for answers about what happened to _you_. When news of Teiko broke we tried to track down more information because we thought _maybe_ that’s where you were. One thing lead to another and we found Ophiuchus.”

“So many of them were separated from their children,” his mother added. “We could relate to their cause, so we joined them. A lot of normal humans are in Ophiuchus—we just want things to be better.”

A lot of parents _were_ reunited with their children after Samezuka broke. Apparently, a fair amount of the Ophiuchus rebels in Iwatobi were former Legacy who did not approve of having their Capricorn-line children taken from them.

“Just because Archer was wrong doesn’t mean all of the Legacy is flawed,” Mikoshiba insists. “We can’t just abandon centuries of tradition just because one Elder was corrupt.”

Rin snorts. “Come on, Mikoshiba. You can’t _still_ be playing the part of good soldier.”

“Nii-san! There’s need to be rude,” Gou chides, coming up from behind her brother. “Mikoshiba-san, I know it must be hard, but would you at least hear Ophiuchus out? We could really use your help in calming some of the other Sagittarius-line.”

Mikoshiba doesn’t say anything. In fact, it doesn’t seem like Mikoshiba heard her at all. He is staring at Gou like he’s having some kind of revelation. “Oh, sure, Gou-san, whatever you say. If _you’re_ here, I guess it can’t be so bad.”

“Right?” Momotarou says, enthusiastically. The younger boy is similarly starstruck at the sight of Gou. “We could probably stay for a little while, if it would make _you_ happy, Gou-san!”

“Oh! Thanks?” Gou says, unsure. Rin scowls and steps between his sister and the two brothers. “Come on, Gou, Mom wants to talk to you.”

“Hmm, Gou-chan is so popular!” Nagisa says, walking up.

“Nagisa-kun,” Rei starts. They haven’t really had the chance to talk since the whole thing with Archer went down. Nagisa had initially seemed excited at meeting his parents, but had since seemed sort of reserved, (almost as bad as Haruka, who didn’t seem _at all_ happy about his newfound family).

“Are you—happy?”

Nagisa shrugs, not faking cheer like Rei was afraid he would. “We’ve been swimming on our own for so long. It’s a little weird now, you know? I guess part of me kinda liked doing whatever I wanted.”

Rei nods, because it wasn’t all bad, swimming the world with his friends. “But change is weird in a good way. Or at least, it always has been in my experience.”

Nagisa grins then, a genuine expression. “Yeah, you’re right. Weird in a good way.” He presses a quick kiss against Rei’s lips, and darts away laughing before Rei can even process what happened.

“Ooh,” Ai and Momo say, watching Rei blush.

“Stop that,” Rei says, pushing up his glasses and then fleeing.

*

“Nii-chan!”

“Nii-chan!”

 The two children climb over Makoto and he laughs as he tries to hold them up. “Ren! Ran! Be careful!”

“You’re _so_ tall!” Ran says.

“Just the tallest ever!” Ren agrees. “I hope I’m tall like you!”

“It’s possible,” Makoto says. He can’t believe these two exist—his younger brother and sister. Two little Gemini-line who never had to grow up in the halls of Samezuka. (Makoto is still not sure how the lines work, or how a Capricorn-line mother and a Sagittarius-line father could have a Capricorn-line son and two Gemini-line twins, but he figures he now has the time to learn all about his family). There’s a lot of things he can’t believe. Just yesterday, he’d been a prisoner, with no hope and only a bleak life as a reprogrammed Legacy water soldier.

Now, he has a _family._ Two parents and two little siblings and Haru, Nagisa, Rei and Gou. All his family is here.

Less exuberantly, Hayato clings to his leg, and Makoto pats his head to try and soothe some of his fears. Hayato’s parents had claimed their stolen Capricorn-line child, but Hayato hadn’t found their presence reassuring when faced with the absence of his older brother, and instead started following Makoto around.

Thinking about Kisumi still made him feel anxious and sick. When he noticed his friend wasn’t around he’d assumed that meant Kisumi had run off with the rest of the Sagittarius-line who had wanted to re-join the Legacy. But Rin had shook his head and said, “It’s not what you think. Kisumi is Ophiuchus-line like me. He’s been working undercover. He probably felt like he had to follow Archer.” This hadn’t surprised Makoto—but it has been very concerning. He didn’t like the idea of Kisumi alone with Archer as some kind of double-agent.

It also doesn't seem right, that Kisumi is still out there, when everyone else is here and safe with their families. Makoto hasn't been able to talk to Ikuya or Asahi or the other Capricorn-line senpai yet, but he is glad they are here, out of danger, and wishes all his friends were in the same place.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Haru and Rin arguing, and he grimaces. Makoto sets his siblings and Hayato down and sends them on their way, then approaches the two arguers carefully.

“—should have just _said_ —”

“I tried! _You_ wouldn’t listen to me, no matter what, _remember_?”

“But you could have tried harder, Rin.”

“What does it matter? You’re here _now_ aren’t you? And you’re staying?”

Makoto’s heart skips when Haru doesn’t answer right away. He hadn’t missed the way Haru’s reaction throughout their new situation. Unlike Makoto, Rei, Nagisa, and Gou—Haru had spent very little time trying to talk to his newfound parents. Mind you, Haru’s parents had been _very_ busy talking to Kasamatsu Youji and trying to help the lost and confused Samezuka soldiers. The Nanase couple seemed to be in charge of the rebels.

“Your dad is _the Ophiuchus Elder_ , you get that right? That means he’s the lead rebel against the Legacy. And you’re _so_ strong, Haru, you could do so much—”

“And why should I?” Haru demands. “I only swim free. I ran away from Samezuka because I didn’t want to be a mindless soldier. I _don’t_ see the difference being a soldier for Ophiuchus.”

Makoto stops where he is, heart beating rapidly. That had been a fairly big speech for Haru, all things considered, and Makoto can see his point.

“Idiot,” Rin says, rolling his eyes. “It’s different, when you’re fighting for a cause you chose. You don’t have to decide yet, but someday even _you_ might want to swim for something you believe in.” Rin spots Makoto and calls out, “Talk some sense into this idiot, will you Makoto?”

“Haru is Haru,” Makoto says with a smile, relaxing somewhat. “I’ll support anything Haru wants to do.”

“Guh, you guys are so sappy,” Rin says, huffing as he walks past them, presumably to find someone less sappy to talk to.

Haru just scowls. “Makoto, you want to stay here, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Makoto answers honestly. “But I also want to be wherever you are, Haru.”

Haru’s scowl deepens.

Makoto isn’t worried. Rin has a way of pulling Haru into the right direction. It’s Makoto’s job to love and support Haru with whatever he decides. “I’m just glad we’re together again.”

Haru’s scowl finally softens and he nods. No matter what else happens, Makoto will always remember how horrible it had been when he thought he’d never see Haru again. So even _if_ Haru decides to swim away—or if Makoto decides he does want to go to a human college after all—as long as they can find each other again, then Makoto figures everything is going to be fine.

*

Sousuke watches as Mikoshiba and Momotarou vie for Gou’s attention and Nagisa teases Ai. He knows a lot of the old Sagittarius-line immediately left to find another Legacy branch, but a fair amount of the younger ones stuck around because Nanase and the other rebels presented a reassuring adult presence that a lot of them needed after Archer’s betrayal.

Rin walks up, clicking his tongue. “Haru is so stubborn sometimes. And Makoto just enables him! It’s a wonder those idiots survived on their own for so long.”

He grumbles like it’s the biggest annoyance in the world, but Sousuke knows Rin better than that. He knows Rin is pleased to be reunited with his friends again. And if he had to guess he’s sure that Rin will eventually badger Haruka into a leader role for the Ophiuchus rebels.

“This is a pretty organized setup you have here, Rin,” Sousuke offers. He’d always pictured the rebels living in tents in the woods somewhere, like Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. But the Ophiuchus-line was almost as organized as the Legacy. And, he was guessing, as equally widespread. Sousuke’s only just got the barest glimmer of what’s happening (he suspects the Ophiuchus leaders don’t fully trust him yet. He can’t even say they’re wrong—he _is_ a Yamazaki. So they don’t tell him much).

But he’s always been pretty good at hearing what wasn’t said, and he’s certain that anywhere the Legacy has a branch, most likely there’s an Ophiuchus-line faction, quietly rebelling against tradition.

“I can’t take credit for any of it. But I heard my dad did a lot of the groundwork. I wish I could have met him.” Rin’s voice is full of pride and sorrow, and Sousuke thinks about all the things the Legacy had taken from Rin and the other Capricorn-line children.

“Rin, what do you think you’re going to get out of this? You can’t win against the Legacy.” He says it because he feels like someone _has_ to say it. The Legacy is thousands of years old, and they have very powerful connections. They’re not a system that you can just _change._

Rin just shrugs. “Maybe not in my lifetime. But, I figure, we have to keep trying. Otherwise it always _will_ be the same.”

There’s this intense, heavy feeling that grips Sousuke, nameless and powerful. _I love him,_ he thinks. _I love him and that’s the only thing that matters right now._

“What about you, Sousuke? You in?”

It’s like he’s inviting Sousuke to join a sports club, and Sousuke has to snort. “Yeah, Rin. I’m in. I’m Sagittarius-line. If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s fight the good fight.”

Rin laughs but then he quiets, suddenly serious. Red eyes fix on him and Rin asks softly. “Are you OK?”

It’s the first time Rin—or anyone—acknowledges what happened in front of Sousuke. Sousuke lost his father, and now he’s lost his uncle and everything he knew.

But, he has Rin. And he met his Uncle Youji, and Sousuke is realizing that despite his father’s best efforts, Sousuke is more like Youji after all. And maybe that isn’t even a bad thing.

It’s Rin who’s asking, so Sousuke feels like he has to be honest. “No, I’m not.” He looks down, his voice close to breaking as he thinks about his dad, about Kenji, about the Yamazaki family. When he looks back up, Rin is there, looking at him with concern in his eyes Sousuke smiles, and it’s a genuine smile, even if it’s a fragile one.

“But I will be.”

*

When the fire was out, and everyone had miraculously escaped unscathed, Youji had thrown himself at Kasamatsu and hugged him so tightly, Kasamatsu immediately forgot all the answers he wanted to demand from his father.          

“You’re OK. Thank God, you’re OK.”

Kasamatsu could feel his dad shaking then he held on so tight that Kasamatsu had trouble breathing. “Of course I am,” he said, his voice muffled against Youji’s shirt.

Youji pulled back only as far as it took to look at Kasamatsu properly. His eyes grew steely at what he saw. “Did _Kenji_ do that to you?”

“Wha—oh, no, not all of it.” Kasamatsu still hadn’t seen himself in a mirror, but it must be pretty bad. Kasamatsu had so many questions it was almost impossible to figure out where to start. “How are you even here?” he blurts out. It’s not at all the most important question, but it’s the easiest one to ask for now. “How did you know where we were?”

“Ryouta called—and I thought—anyway, I had Masaomi track your cellphones. And he had a helicopter.” Youji stopped, like he has his own questions that he doesn’t know how to ask. Or maybe he knew there was going to be a conversation, and he knew it was going to be long and awkward, so maybe he didn’t want to start that conversation just yet.

Youji looked over to where the rebels were, struggling to calm the near-hysterical children who had escaped the fire. “I better go deal with that,” he said. “We’ll talk later, OK?”

“OK,” Kasamatsu said, because he recognized now was not the time. In the distance, he thought he saw a familiar flash of red, and he wondered what Akashi Seijuurou was doing here.

Part of that question is answered when Akashi Masaomi strolled up, apparently finished with bribing various reporters who had appeared on scene.

“Oh, good. You’re alive. Here, have a Rolex.”

He dropped the expensive watch in Kasamatsu’s hands without much warning.

“I don’t—what? I don’t need a Rolex.”

“Have one anyway,” Masaomi said. “Glad you’re OK, kid.”

“Why wouldn’t I be alive?” Kasamatsu asked, perplexed. True, there _had_ been a few near-death experiences, but there wasn’t any way Masaomi or Youji would know that.

Masaomi just shrugged. “Do you want anything else? I feel like spending money. A house. I could buy you a house. Do you want a house?”

Kasamatsu had no way of knowing if the man was being serious or not. He _sounded_ serious, so Kasamatsu just said, “I don’t really need a house.”

“Suit yourself,” Masaomi said, and walked away before Kasamatsu had the chance to give him back the Rolex.

*

A few days later, and Kasamatsu still hasn’t had the chance to talk to his father. Kise had passed out after the fire, and he still hadn’t fully recovered from the exhaustion of Perfect Copy. He’d woken up a couple of times to eat and insist Kasamatsu stay nearby, but then he’d fallen back asleep.

They were at a JSDF hospital, because the doctors there were the ones who knew Kise best. Kasamatsu didn’t like how grave they’d seemed when examining Kise, and he struck to Kise’s room, as requested.

“Senpai?” Kise murmurs, waking up.

Kasamatsu jolts up. “I’m here.”

“Mm,” Kise sighs a happy sort of sound. “Good. You should sleep and there’s only one bed.”

It takes awhile for Kasamatsu to process what Kise is saying and when he does he feels more relieved than anything else. Kise is going to be fine.

“Idiot,” he says softly. “You’re still recovering.”

Kise doesn’t open his eyes but he smiles. “I bet I’d recover faster if you were here next to me, Senpai.”

Heart thundering in Kasamatsu’s ears, he thinks, _I could have lost you. In so many ways, I could have lost you again and again._ The sheer force of just how much he loves this man terrifies him.

Carefully, he climbs in the bed next to Kise, so as not to disrupt him too much.

Kise’s eyes fly open. “Senpai?”

“Move over,” he says gruffly.

Positioning himself under the sheets, he curls up next to Kise and wraps his arm around his waist. The warmth of Kise’s body is comforting and intoxicating, and Kasamatsu just sighs into Kise’s skin, finally relaxing after a very intense few days.

“Oh, man, Senpai, I super wish I was feeling better now—”

“Idiot,” he says again, fond and soft. “When you’re fully recovered, maybe we can actually go on a romantic vacation.”

“ _What?_ Really? Am I dreaming?”

“Be quiet and sleep. You still need to rest.”

“I’m feeling _much_ better now,” Kise says, but his voice still sounds tired, and he doesn’t make any movement to grope Kasamatsu under the sheets, so Kasamatsu is pretty sure Kise knows he’s still weak.

A comfortable silence descends, and Kasamatsu thinks maybe Kise has fallen asleep again, except then a quiet voice says, “Senpai?”

“Yeah?”

“Did Jabberwocky do that to you?”

He’s finally seen a mirror now—the ring of bruises around his throat makes a really ugly statement, and it’s no wonder so many people were alarmed at the sight of him. He also has a scraped cheek and a cut lip, courtesy of his Uncle Kenji, but the bruises around his neck are a very obvious testament to his brush with death.

It would be difficult to explain that between the two, Kenji had been the real threat. Twice, he’d pointed a gun at Kasamatsu, and twice Kasamastu had seen his own death in that man’s eyes. Kenji would have killed him, if Kise and Youji hadn’t intervened.

He doesn’t have any real reason to think Rui _wasn’t_ going to kill him, because it’s only a feeling he has, and Kise would probably yell at him for thought.

“Her name is Rui, now,” he says idly. Kise just snorts. “I tried talking to her, when you went to the fire—”

“ _Senpai!_ ” Kise says, jerking upright.

Kasamatsu curls tighter around him, settling Kise back in the bed. “She just—she reminds me of _you_ , a little bit. Like how you were,” he says quickly, when Kise looks hurt. “I just—I want to help her. I think she genuinely cared about Kenji, even when he betrayed her. And—” And the Miracles could have been like that. Kasamatsu would have to be blind to not notice the way the Miracles all fixated on one person, like they had imprinted. Or not just their lover, per se, but on the people they considered _theirs._ In the early days, it was like they’d hated everyone but the “exceptions”—humans fell into two categories, the people who belonged to the Miracles, and everyone else. No one had ever shown them affection before, so it’s not hard to see why that would be the case.

Now, Kasamatsu can’t help but wonder what it would have been like if the people who first found the Miracles had been the _wrong_ kind of people. If the Miracles had met and fixated on bad people who only wanted to use them, what would that have been like?

A lot like Rui, he figures, and he can’t help but feel a sadness so profound he doesn’t know how to name it.

“Anyway, I don’t think she’s all bad. I want to help her.”

Kise just sighs—long and drawn out. “That’s very much like you, Senpai.”

He wants to change the subject away from Rui, but he’s still thinking about what she said, so he delicately asks, “Hey, do you think it’s possible for a regular human to be immune to your abilities?”

“Of course,” Kise says automatically, and then his eyes widen, “Oh crap, I wasn’t supposed to—”

Kasamatsu frowns. “What?”

“Nothing! Why do you ask?”

“Archer is looking for one, apparently,” Kasamatsu says, not wanting to bring Rui back into the conversation, but also getting an uneasy feeling with the way Kise is reacting. “Apparently he wants to find one really bad, although I don’t know for wha—what? Why are you looking like that?”

Kise has gone increasingly pale shades and his eyes are so wide it would almost be comical, in a different situation.

“Akashicchi is going to _murder_ me,” Kise says.

“What? Why? Do you _know_ an immune human?”

Kise swallows and then whispers, “Furihatacchi.”

“Furihata Kouki?” Kasamatsu exclaims.

“Sh!” Kise says, putting a hand over Kasamatsu’s mouth, like he’s afraid Archer might have spies listening in. “Yeah, our abilities don’t work on him. We all tried once—I can’t Copy him, Akashicchi can’t Order him, Kurokocchi can’t misdirect his memories. Even Midorimacchi—his precision doesn’t work quite right. He tried to move a paperclip at Furihatacchi and it just sort of skews to the left.”

“ _How?”_ Kasamatsu doesn’t know the Seirin Second Year all that well, but they’ve occasionally hung out for “club activities” and he can’t believe this never came up. “I mean, I get how maybe Akashi’s Orders might not work, but how does that affect you?”

“There’s a psychic component to all our powers,” Kise says. “It’s hard to explain—I don’t read minds, but it’s like my ability can? That's how I can get their mannerisms down. And for whatever reason, Furihatacchi is immune to psychic interference. I mean, Midorimacchi could still float a boulder over his head, and that would certainly harm him, just like Murasakibaracchi could probably still crush him, and Aominecchi could still do damage with super speed, but anything that depends on the mind and the guy is immune. Akashicchi doesn’t want anyone knowing, he says it’s too dangerous. And I guess he’s _right_ and holy crap, he is going to be so pissed.”

“I’ll say,” Kasamatsu says, thinking about a furious Akashi Seijuurou.

Kise sighs again and then presses in closer to Kasamatsu. “Oh well. That’s the future’s problem.”

“Yeah,” Kasamatsu says. His boyfriend is in his arms, and they’re both safe, and the can worry about the future later.

*

When he wakes up again, his father is sitting in a chair by the bed.

“Dad?” Kasamatsu sits up in the bed; Kise is still completely out of it, which isn’t surprising. A lot of Kise’s sleep lately has been coma-like in nature.

“Yukio,” Youji says, stirring. “How are you?”

“OK,” he says, his voice still hoarse. They sit there for a very awkward minute, and finally he just has to say, “Did you _know_ your—”

“No,” Youji says quickly. “I swear it didn’t. I left my family because they were homophobic asshole sadists, and it never occurred to me they were anything else. I didn’t even—when we went to talk to Seiji that one time when you were six, do you remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I walked in on one of their freaky ceremony things and that was the first time it even occurred to me they were a cult. And that’s all I thought it was! I had no idea about the superpowers and the Legacy and the rest of that bullshit.”

“OK,” Kasamatsu says, believing him. The town of Iwatobi apparently had a lot of normal human residents and the Legacy children weren’t raised knowing about the heritage. It would have been pretty easy to grow up oblivious to the…weird cult-like undertones.

But Youji’s response about why he left his family _does_ bring up another question Kasamatsu had. This is probably not at all what he should focus on right now, but weirdly, it’s the one thing he keeps returning back to, so he just asks, “Why does Kenji think you’re gay?”

Youji lets out a surprised bark of laughter that’s short and somehow cynical. “Is he still on that? Man, your brothers walk in on you sucking dick behind the ceremonial altar _once_ and they never let it go.”

“ _Dad!”_ Kasamatsu says in a strangled voice. Kise still sleeps peacefully beside him, oblivious to the mortification Kasamatsu is experiencing right now. That was _not_ an image he _ever_ needed associated with his dad.

“I’m bisexual, although my brothers never could make the distinction,” Youji says, his voice mild, and Kasamatsu just stares at him. “It’s when you’re sexually attracted to both—”

“I know what bisexual is!” Kasamatsu snaps, really not up for his father’s jokes. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Youji shrugs. “It wasn’t relevant.”

“Not _relevant?_ ” Kasamatsu sputters. “It seems like something you could have mentioned when you found out _I_ was gay!”

“Why?” Youji says, puzzled. “Would that have changed anything?”

“It—” Kasamatsu starts, but he has to stop, because he thinks he might cry, and he’d really rather not.

He doesn’t know how to explain that it hurts that Youji wouldn’t tell him. Not because knowing would have changed anything; it doesn’t and it certainly wouldn’t have changed anything about how Kasamatsu came to terms with his own sexuality. But, this on top of all the other family secrets, and Kasamatsu can’t help but feel like he doesn’t know his father at all.

No, that isn’t right. He feels like Youji didn’t _want_ Kasamatsu to know him, and that’s what hurts. He’d spent years thinking his father trusted him, and apparently that was never true.

“I’m sorry,” Youji says, his voice gentle, and it’s like he could hear all of Kasamatsu’s thoughts. “I’m _sorry._ I didn’t think it mattered. But I should have—you’re right, I should have told you. It’s just that—” Youji swallows. “The way I was raised—with the family I had, I learned really quick that lying and keeping my mouth shut was the only way to survive. Not just about my sexuality, but about everything. So silence became a habit. It drove your mom nuts—she always said I wouldn’t tell anyone if I’d been set on fire, and she was right. It just—never occurs to me to tell people things. I’ve gotten better about it, but it’s still—hard.”

Kasamatsu instantly feels ashamed. He thinks about Kenji, and what it would have been like to grow up with him as an older brother and yeah, it’s not hard to figure out why maybe Youji wouldn’t want to talk about himself to anyone. “Did—did Mom know?”

Youji laughs, a more genuine sound now. “Of course. I think that was part of my appeal, to be honest. I told you she was a bit of a fangirl. In fact, when we finally started dating it was right after I’d—actually, you know what? I’m not going to tell you that story.”

“That’s fine,” Kasamatsu says quickly, not wanting to hear about his dad’s sex life anymore.

Youji’s smile fades away, and he looks at Kasamatsu gravely. “If I ever started dating again I _was_ going to tell you.”

Kasamatsu nods, accepting that. And maybe that’s the important thing with Youji—not that he _does_ tell you his secrets, but that he _would._   “Why—why _haven’t_ you started dating again?” Now that he’s asking his dad all the hard questions, he might as well put it all out there. Kasamatsu Hinami has been dead for nine years. Kasamatsu isn’t the only one to wonder why Youji never dated.

Youji leans back, but he looks like a man who had been expecting this question for a long time. “You know, Yukio, I was a bit of a slut before I met your mother.”

 “Oh, God, _Dad_ —”

 “No, no, it’s relevant, I swear. And as soon as I met her, I just knew she was The One. Love at first sight, and all that. And abruptly, I lost all interest in having sex with anyone that wasn’t her. I’m just not the kind of person who can date other people when I’m in love with someone else.”

“Yeah, but Mom—” He can’t finish the sentence. He’s pretty sure Kasamatsu Hinami wouldn’t have wanted her husband to be alone for so long.

Youji just smiles, and it’s the same smile he gets when he’s not going to answer a question, and so he just deflects. Kasamatsu figures his dad has been through a hard enough time as it was, and decides not to press further.

“Your mom was an amazing woman,” Youji says. “Did you know—when she met Kenji, she punched him? Broke his nose and everything.”

“Mom did that?” Kasamatsu says, delighted.

“She did. It was the sexiest damned thing I’ve ever seen. I think Ren was conceived that night.”

“ _Dad!_ ” Kasamatsu groans. “Stop telling me things like that.”

“Wait until you’re older and you have kids of your own.”

“This is not the sort of thing I’m ever going to tell my kids.”

“No, but you can bet Ryouta will, and that’ll be hilarious.”

“Oh God, he _will,_ ” Kasamatsu says. And he glances down at his still sleeping boyfriend. It’s surprisingly easy to picture Kise as a father, and when he curls up to sleep again, _that’s_ the future he wants to think about.

*

It’s only a dim sort of consciousness that occurs when he hears the sound of the door creaking open. Kasamatsu isn’t awake, not really, and it takes him awhile to realize the voices he hears aren’t part of a dream.

“Are you still watching your kids sleep like a creeper?”

“You know, Masa-chan, the most obnoxious thing about you adopting Seijuurou is now I can’t say, ‘You don’t understand, you’re not a parent’ anymore.”

“Oh God, I am trying to picture the scenario in which I watch Seijuurou sleep at night. That’s too traumatizing to even consider.”

Youji snorts. There’s a pause and Kasamatsu almost falls back asleep, but then he hears, “Thanks, Masaomi. For everything.” It’s so strange hearing Youji sound like that—earnest and open. And even though he only said those four words, it was like there was so much more packed in there and for no reason at all, Kasamatsu thinks Masaomi must know all of Youji’s secrets, for Youji to sound like that when talking to him.

“It was fun. I got to hack the Legacy computers and now I know _all kinds_ of things.”

“You knew about them before, didn’t you?”

“I knew _of_ them,” Masaomi corrects. “After we found out about Teiko, it would have been silly not to look into what else was out there, wouldn’t it? But I had no idea your family was connected. Just think, if your life had been different you might have had superpowers. I think you’re too old for the Ceremony to work anymore.”

“I’ll weep bitter tears over my lost opportunity,” Youji says dryly.

“It really doesn’t bother you?”

“Right now, I’m taking enormous comfort in the fact that I’m just an ordinary human. Still having my doubts on _you,_ though—you sure you don’t have superpowers?”

“My DNA is 100% human, thanks, not a single Legacy line in my family tree. I never needed superpowers to rule the world. And now the Legacy has made a very fatal mistake.”

“Oh?”

“They have my attention.” Masaomi’s voice shifts, “Hey, _Youji,_ Youji, you love me right? You want me to be happy, don’t you?”

Kasamatsu freezes, because _Akashi Masaomi_ is using the same, wheedling sort of tone that Kise uses when he’s about to ask Kasamatsu to make out with him when he’s trying to study for a test.

“Let me destroy your family, pretty please? It would bring me so much joy.”

Youji snorts out a laugh that he smothers quickly. “You know what Hinami said after she met my brothers?”

“Hinami?” Masaomi says, surprised.

“She said, ‘I never met anyone I hated enough I wanted to sic Masaomi on them as an enemy, until now.’”

Masaomi laughs, and Kasamatsu hears the sound of him rearranging himself in his seat. “Ah, Hinami really _got_ me as a person. You know, I sometimes think the only reason I’m not a supervillain is because Hinami isn’t around to stop me anymore. It’s just no fun being evil without a hero to oppose you.”

“Lawful Good versus Chaotic Evil,” Youji says, with the cadence of an old, favorite joke.

There’s a pause, and then Masaomi says, “How are you doing?” His voice sounds completely different, suddenly grave and almost intimate.

The silence is tense now, and then very quietly, Youji says, “ _He hurt my son._ ”

Kasamatsu’s breath stills, and his heart beats faster. He’s _never_ heard his father sound like that before—Youji sounds _dangerous._

“He was going to kill _my son_. He was going to kill _Hinami’s son._ I’m not—I’m not OK, Masa-chan. I’m—”

“Hey, ssh, it’s OK.” Kasamatsu feels desperately like he shouldn’t be listening in on this. His father sounds like a man on the brink of madness, and Masaomi’s soothing tones speak volumes to how much history they must have. “It’s OK, Youji, I’m going to make it better.”

“I want to kill him, Masaomi. I want to hunt him down and kill him. I’m so close—and it’s not, I can’t—”

“Hinami wouldn’t want that,” Masaomi says peacefully. “It would make Hinami sad if you murdered your brother. But she’d expect it from me, so let me do it, OK? I’ll destroy everything he stands for, no problem.”

Youji lets out a shaky breath, like it might be a laugh or a sob, except it’s neither of those things. “If I see him again, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“You won’t see him again,” Masaomi promises, and Kasamatsu has no idea what he’s listening to right now. It’s surreal—like some altered state of being.

“I wouldn't have made it in time, if it wasn't for you. I think you saved my life again,” Youji says.

“Ah, well, the ‘life saving’ column is still probably heavy in your favor.”

“Only because so many people tried to kill you when we were younger.”

“Oh, they still do, I’m just far more self-sufficient now.”

There’s a snort and then a pause, and finally Youji says quietly, “Thanks for being my friend, Masaomi. I don’t say that enough.”

“Well, don’t start now for crap’s sake, it’s not like you. All this maudlin talk is making me sick. If you’re just going to be sappy, I’m leaving.”

“Sure, sure,” Youji says.

When Masaomi leaves, Youji trails after him, leaving Kasamatsu wide awake.

_I’m just not the kind of person who can date other people when I’m in love with someone else._

For the first time, it occurs to Kasamatsu that maybe Youji hadn’t been talking about Hinami.

*

Later, Kise tells Akashi everything. He braces for impact, but Akashi is very quiet as he analyzes this new information.

“And you have no idea why they want an immune human?”

Kise shakes his head. “Even Senpai doesn’t know. I asked. Akashicchi, did you _know_ about the Legacy?”

“Momoi and I have been gathering information about other facilities for some time now,” Akashi says, confirming Kise’s suspicions. “By all appearances, the Legacy had seemed the most innocuous. Crazy, but in a fairly normal human way. I had determined that they were not a threat. But now—”

Akashi shifts his posture then, and when Kise meets his gaze again, one of Akashi’s eyes is gold, and his whole demeanor is like that of a highly trained killer.

“Now they have my attention.”

Kise shivers slightly—he can’t help it, Akashi is _scary_ when he’s mad. He’s glad Akashi’s anger isn’t directed towards him, though. And he can’t help but feel like the Legacy just made the worst mistake of their lives, drawing Akashi’s notice.

But. Akashi isn’t the only one with someone to protect.

“If there’s anything I can do, just let me know. Those people hurt Senpai.”

“Of course, Ryouta,” Akashi says. “We should probably enlist the aid of the others as well.”

“Really?” Kise says, surprised. It’s not like Akashi—especially _this_ Akashi—to admit he might need help from _anyone_.

“They have a right to know,” Akashi says, coolly.

“After all, this is a family affair now.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am really bad at judging what counts as "mature" or "graphic" when it comes to describing violence, so I erred on the side of caution. But if you are familiar with the series, it's about on par with what has appeared in previous stories. I tried to tag all the warnings I could think of, but if you're at all concerned about the content, feel free to message me for spoilers at umisabaku.tumblr.com (Or hey, if you ever just want to read short fic and see lots of anime reblogs, feel free to find me there).
> 
> Oh, and there's a lot of cliffhangers at the end of the chapters. You should probably know that going in. Sorry!!!!
> 
> Thanks again for reading!! I love you all! Comments and kudos are always very much appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Shrine Of Your Lies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15008606) by [The Sports Section (Empress_of_Trash)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empress_of_Trash/pseuds/The%20Sports%20Section)




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